The deal has now officially been announced. It is an $8.2 billion all cash transaction with existing shareholders being offered $60 per share The acquisition has the unanimous support of the Emerson board and as well as the support of the NI board, and is contingent (among other things) upon NI shareholder approvals. It is expected to close in Q2 of Emerson’s 2024 fiscal year (Q1 of 2024 calendar year)
According the Reuters, Fortive also bid $60/share, but NI chose Emerson. The Reuters story chronicles the acquisition process which at a time also included a hostile offer from Emerson, simultaneously with the public details of its efforts to engage NI in discussions was posted in January 2023 on the website https://www.maximizingvalueatni.com/ which now has been taken down but can be found at:
https://web.archive.org/details/https://www.maximizingvalueatni.com
Emerson has spent 8 weeks of due diligence of NI and the more they looked, the more they liked it. More than seven meetings have been held with NI management during that time. Emerson values the people of NI and its culture and understands running an engineering company, like Emerson.
There is little overlap between the products of the two companies, but important adjacencies in the markets of the merged companies.
Emerson expects significant synergies and opportunities by restoring NI’s gross margin which has slipped to the high 60’s, by introducing a more disciplined engineering process with most savings seen in software synergies, by savings in sales and marketing, as well as reducing duplicate costs associated with being a public company. An annual saving of 165 million USD is expected by the end of a five year period, with associated costs of 155 million USD.
35,266,990 shares of NI stock traded today (April 12, 2013) at a price just below $58. NI has approximately 134 million shares outstanding.
National Instruments Press Release
Emerson replay of press conference at 8.30 a.m Eastern Time today April 12, 2023. The conference also includes Q&A from stock analysts.
Emerson slides from press conference
Emerson infographic from Press Conference
Emerson Wikipedia Entry, including a list of all companies acquired by Emerson
National Instruments 2022 Annual Report (issued March 31 2023)
Bloomberg Report on the acquisition
Reddit discussions of the acquisition
Comments on ni.com discussion forum
Update on April 13, 2023:
Is the price fair?
Brodsky & Smith is soliciting input that the price was too low, as a prelude to a potential class action suit.
The offered price is a historical high for National Instruments Stock:
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/NATI:NASDAQ?window=MAX
Who gains most in class action suits?
…and have you read this post from January 25, 2023:
Dr. T’s support of the Emerson Acquisition
March 18, 2023:
Emerson Upgraded by Seeking Alpha