French energy group Total denies interest in Umicore

Following up on the piece immediately below, "Automakers Need to Start Worrying About the Batteries Lurking in Older Electric Vehicles" (plus some M&A speculation from Markets Live).

From Reuters:

French energy group Total (TOTF.PA) denied on Friday any bid interest in Belgian materials and technology group Umicore (UMI.BR), whose shares had briefly jumped higher on speculation of takeover interest from Total. 

“We categorically deny any interest in Umicore,” said a spokesperson for Total. 
Umicore’s shares had briefly jumped up by as much as 9.5% after an FT Alphaville report of possible bid interest from Total, but the stock then lost ground.
Umicore shares were down 0.9% by 1350 GMT.

A Umicore spokesperson said the company had no comment to make on the market rumours.