BP has seen its shares surge higher after an activist investor reportedly built up a stake in the oil giant.
Shares in the FTSE 100 firm jumped more than 7% at one stage in Monday morning trading, hitting their highest level for six months, following weekend reports that US firm Elliott Investment Management had snapped up a stake.
It comes after BP’s shares have languished recently, down almost 10% in the past year.
The reported stake-buying by Elliott has fuelled speculation over strategy changes at the group and an overhaul of the board.
BP is set to report results on Tuesday and unveil a strategy update at the end of February.
The size of the stake Elliott has bought is not known.
Elliott was not immediately available to comment and BP declined to comment.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “We don’t know how big its stake is, or exactly what its plans are for BP – will it try to break the company up, or could it try to force a sale of the company?
“We do not think that Elliott has enough of a stake in BP yet to force a sale of the company; however, if there was a firm offer on the table for BP in the coming weeks, then the stock price could take off.”
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