Given Imaging Heads for Highest in Year After Fuji Talks Report

Given Imaging Ltd. (GIVN) headed for the highest close in more than a year after Calcalist reported Japan’s Fujinon Corp. is in talks to buy the company, valuing it 34 percent above last week’s close.

Shares of the Israeli maker of a capsule-sized camera for diagnosing digestive ailments climbed 8 percent to 75.38 shekels at 12:20 p.m. in Tel Aviv, poised for the highest close since July 2011. The shares earlier rose as much as 17 percent.

Fujinon, a unit of Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (4901), is in talks to buy Given Imaging at a valuation of $750 million, Calcalist reported, without saying how it obtained the information. Given Imaging rose 22 percent last week in the U.S., giving it a market value of $561.3 million, after saying it’s been approached about a possible takeover.

Given Imaging is exploring strategic options including a possible merger or sale and Barclays Plc is helping it in the process, the company said in a statement on Oct. 18. The board of the Yokneam-based company appointed a committee to oversee the process. Given Imaging is held indirectly by Israeli billionaire Nochi Dankner’s IDB Holding Corp.

A spokeswoman for IDB declined to comment on the Calcalist report. Messages left at Barclays’ Israel offices weren’t returned today.

IDB has been selling assets, including a stake in Clal Industries & Investments Ltd. to Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries Holdings Inc., as the company seeks to avoid default.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in Tel Aviv at dwainer3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net