Private equity firm EQT has lifted its cash proposal for Intertek to roughly $12.5 billion, positioning the move as its fourth and final bid after three earlier offers were rebuffed. The revised terms add a 59% premium to Intertek’s closing price on 9 April, the day before EQT’s first approach, and preserve a £1.077 per share dividend declared in March.

Shareholder sentiment has begun to tilt the balance. Several of Intertek’s largest investors have publicly urged the board to engage, limiting the board’s ability to dismiss the offer without presenting an alternative that matches the cash floor. Meanwhile, the company continues a strategic review that could split its testing and assurance business from its energy and infrastructure units, a move that would be measured against EQT’s offer.

Under UK takeover rules, a final‑bid declaration bars EQT from raising the price again, forcing the Intertek board to either recommend acceptance or articulate a credible higher‑value case. If the transaction closes, it will rank among the biggest European private‑equity take‑privates of the year and extend EQT’s track record in large‑cap industrial and testing services.