ECOSECURITIES, A Dublin- based developer of emission-reduction projects, surged almost 31 per cent yesterday after a company associated with one of its founders said it was considering a takeover bid.

Guanabara Holdings, whose chairman is EcoSecurities co- founder Pedro Moura Costa, is considering an offer at 60 pence an ordinary share, it said in a statement. That values the company at £71 million.

There is no certainty an offer will be made, the Dutch company said.

EcoSecurities shares jumped 31 per cent to 59.5 pence in London. They have fallen 40 per cent over the past year as the recession took hold and as UN regulators scrutinised emission-reduction projects in developing countries. Such projects attract carbon credits, which can be bought by polluters in industrialised countries to offset their emissions.

The offer does not reflect recent increases in the carbon price, nor cost-saving potential available, said Andrew Shepherd-Barron, an analyst at broker KBC Peel Hunt Ltd in London. “A counter-offer is quite possible,” he said.

Agustin Hochschild, an analyst in London for Mirabaud Securities, said yesterday his “bare bones” valuation for the stock was 65 pence and said the offer was “bargain basement”.

The EcoSecurities board said in a statement the offer was “wholly inadequate”, advising shareholders to take no action.

Guanabara, set up to explore the takeover, is being advised by Dresdner Kleinwort Ltd. The bidder is half-owned by interests associated with Moura Costa. The remaining half is owned by BTG Investments LP, a global investment company led by former UBS executive Andre Esteves.

EcoSecurities seeks so-called certified emission reduction credits in the UN-managed clean development mechanism, the world’s second-largest carbon-trading programme after the European Union market.

It has more such projects than any other company, UN data shows. The UN is this year seeking to forge a successor treaty to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. – (Bloomberg)