National Instruments picks Fortive, Keysight as challengers to Emerson's bid -sources

Fortive

03/03/2023 11:00

By David  Carnevali, Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen
       March 3 (Reuters) - 
    Measurement equipment maker National Instruments Corp
 NATI.O  has decided that Fortive Corp  FTV.N  and Keysight
Technologies Inc  KEYS.N  have the potential to top Emerson
Electric Co's  EMR.N  $7 billion bid for the company, three
people familiar with the matter said.
    National Instruments this week informed Emerson, Fortive and
Keysight -- which are all providers of automation solutions
facilitating manufacturing in various industries -- that their
offers qualify them to go through the second round of bidding
for the company, the sources said.
    National Instruments put itself up for sale in January after
Emerson threatened to challenge its board if it did not engage
in deal negotiations. Emerson dropped that threat once the sale
process for National Instruments got underway.
    The value of the first-round bids could not be learned and
it is unclear if National Instruments will, by the end of the
process, receive an offer it deems superior to Emerson's
$53-per-share all-cash bid, or whether Emerson will revise its
offer. National Instruments ended trading on Thursday at $50.62
a share. 
    National Instruments expects the sale process to be
completed by early April, according to the sources. 
    Another bidder could yet emerge, the sources said,
requesting anonymity because the matter is confidential.
National Instruments, Fortive and Keysight did not immediately
respond to requests for comment. Emerson declined to comment.
    Austin, Texas-based National Instruments specializes in the
production of automated testing and measurement tools for the
semiconductor, transportation, aerospace and defense industries.
    Emerson has been involved in a string of deals over the last
few years to reshape itself into a provider of industrial
automation products and services. Fortive, an industrial
conglomerate, and Keysight, an instrumentation company, have
also been looking for acquisitions in the test and measurement
sectors.

 (Reporting by David Carnevali, Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen in
New York, editing by Deepa Babington)
 ((David.Carnevali@thomsonreuters.com;))