SYDNEY — Shares in Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd surged Thursday after Australia's largest waste management company disclosed it had received a $9.4 billion takeover offer from Swedish private equity giant EQT Infrastructure, sending the stock sharply higher as investors weighed the prospect of the company being taken private.

The stock closed at $2.73, up 36 cents, or 15.19%, after climbing as much as 17% intraday to touch $2.71 by 11 a.m. Sydney time, according to trading data. The rally came after Cleanaway confirmed it had received a revised proposal from EQT valuing the company at $9.4 billion Australian dollars, or approximately $6.64 billion in U.S. dollars.

Under the terms of the offer, EQT proposed to acquire Cleanaway for $3.13 in cash per share, a 32.1% premium to the company's last closing price of $2.37 before the announcement. The revised proposal follows an earlier offer of $3.00 per share, indicating EQT sweetened its bid as negotiations with the Cleanaway board progressed.

Cleanaway's board said it would grant EQT Infrastructure nine weeks of exclusive due diligence to work toward negotiating a binding scheme implementation deed. The board indicated that, subject to successful negotiation and execution of an agreement at a price of no less than $3.13 per share, it intends to recommend that shareholders vote........

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