(Reuters) -Switzerland’s U-Blox Holding, a maker of microchips and software for car navigation, said on Friday that it was in talks with Advent International about being taken over by the private equity firm.
“Whether a transaction will materialize is open at this stage,” the company said in a statement.
Bloomberg earlier reported on the talks over an acquisition deal that could value U-Blox at more than 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.24 billion).
The shares were up 19% at 1422 GMT at a three-year high, for a total market value of about 1 billion Swiss francs
The Swiss technology group, which went public in 2007, said last week it cut its first-half loss before interest and tax to 7.7 million francs from a loss of 28 million a year earlier.
It cited cost cuts and higher revenues that jumped 32% to 123.4 million francs.
Earlier this year, the company sold a unit making cellular modules for wireless communication to focus on fast-growing navigation and positioning technology used in cars, robots and farm equipment.
Advent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
($1 = 0.8048 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Emma-Victoria Farr, Editing by Rachel More)
