Metso under the spotlight

A Finnish company called Metso has caught my eye.

Metso shares were up 5pc yesterday and are up another 1.5pc today (readers should be aware the stock crashed at the beginning of the year).

There has been vague talk doing the rounds all week that there is "something going on" with Metso
- which supplies technology to resources companies - although none of my sources seem to know precisely what.

Brokers tell me activist investor Cevian owns a stake in the business, which is always likely to provide a catalyst for an event, such as a subsidiary spin off or even M&A.

And a few weeks ago there was some market speculation doing the rounds that London-listed Weir Group was looking at doing a big deal in Europe.

So, one of my sources (and the reader should be aware he/she is speculating here) reckons Metso, which is listed in Helsinki and the Nasdaq, might be the target for Weir Group.

2+2=4 or 2+2=5? Let's wait and see.

UPDATE: An excellent source gets in touch to tell me Joy Global and GE are seen as the most likely buyers for Metso. That's useful information but also reinforces the central thesis that nobody quite knows what's going on!