Shares of BP jumped Wednesday, lifted by a report that Shell was in talks to acquire it in what would mark a huge deal for the pair of U.K. oil giants, before giving back their gains.
BP’s (BP) U.S.-traded stock was recently up a bit less than 2%, well off intraday highs, while Shell’s (SHEL) was off less than 1%. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, wrote that the companies were in “early stage talks” to merge, which powered more dramatic moves early in the session.
A Shell spokesperson called the report “speculation” in emailed comments, saying that “no talks are taking place.” Bloomberg in early May wrote that Shell was studying a possible deal.
BP did not respond to Investopedia’s request for comment in time for publication.
A deal would combine two massive oil companies. Shell’s market capitalization is around $208 billion, according to Visible Alpha, while BP’s was around $79 billion.
“As we have said many times before, we are sharply focused on capturing the value in Shell through continuing to focus on performance, discipline and simplification,” the Shell spokesperson wrote earlier Wednesday.
This article has been updated since it was first published to add the first comment from Shell and to update share price movements.
