2023-04-12 10:08:08 ET
Fortive Corp. ( NYSE: FTV ) also bid $60 a share for National Instruments ( NASDAQ: NATI ), the same price that Emerson ( NYSE: EMR ) agreed to pay in its takeout.
Fortive ( FTV ) is a smaller company with an smaller balance sheet than Emerson ( EMR ) and a deal would have required Fortive to take on a lot of debt and may have gotten the company to a leverage ratio as much as 4.6x, according to CNBC's David Faber, who cited people familiar.
A deal with Emerson ( EMR ) rather than Fortive ( FTV ) was likely more palatable to National Instruments ( NATI ) as it may be less risky, especially with the current financing markets, according to Faber.
Earlier Wednesday Emerson ( EMR ) confirmed it agreed to buy National Instruments ( NATI ) for $8.25 billion or $60 a share.
National Instruments ( NATI ) rose 9.6% on Wednesday, while Emerson ( EMR ) fell 1.7% and Fortive ( FTV ) rose 3%. Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) gained 2%.
A deal comes after Emerson ( EMR ) was competing with Fortive ( FTV ) and Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) for National Instruments ( NATI ), according to media reports. Keysight may have had issues with its bid due to potential antitrust issues.
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Fortive said to have bid $60 a share for National Instruments - report