PARIS: Shares in French food group Danone rose on Monday after the New York Post newspaper said in a report over the weekend that Danone could be a takeover target. Danone’s shares were up 1.9 percent in early session trading, putting them among the top performer on France’s CAC-40 market index .FCHI. At that price, Danone has a stock market capitalisation of around 45 billion euros (40.91 billion pounds). The New York Post cited a stock market tipster as saying “someone is going to buy Danone”, with the tipster adding that “Danone could be bought by a Kraft or a Coke, and the French government would allow it.” A spokeswoman for Danone, the world’s largest yoghurt maker whose brands include Actimel and Activia, said the company had no comment to make on the report. Benoit de Broissia, fund manager at Paris-based firm Keren Finance, said Danone was often mentioned as a bid target given consolidation activity within its sector, but noted that the New York Post article was lacking in details. “There’s a lot of activity in the industry and Danone is one of the ‘usual suspects’, but the New York Post article was very short in details,” said Broissia, whose firm owns Danone shares. French governments have traditionally sought to prevent their leading companies from being taken over by foreign rivals. In 2005 France dashed to the support of Danone in the face of a rumoured bid from Pepsi (PEP.N), which never materialized. Danone has been on the takeover trail itself, buying US organic food producer WhiteWave earlier this year. Danone said last month that it expected sales growth to accelerate in the second half of the year after challenging conditions in Europe and North America hit its dairy business in the second quarter. Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2017.