In mid-December, Belden launched an unsolicited offer to buy all of the shares of RuggedCom of Concord, Ontario, Canada. RuggedCom resisted; Belden persisted. RuggedCom is in the business of making networking equipment for harsh environments.
Recently, the drama seemed to come to a close with Siemens coming in as a “white knight,” of sorts, topping the Belden bid by roughly $100 million.
Note: Dollar figures in this article use the Canadian dollar. The recent exchange rate was $1 U.S. – $1.0035 Canadian.
Belden’s original offer was made at $280 million, or $22 per RuggedCom share. The company pointed out in its news release that one day earlier (on Dec. 16, 2011), the market quote for RuggedCom shares was $13.61. Therefore, the Belden offer valued RuggedCom at a 62% premium to the most recent market value.
Why was Belden in pursuit of the company? “The acquisition of RuggedCom would accelerate the growth of Belden’s networking business in the electric power transmission and distribution and transportation sectors,” the company said.
Siemens’ late-January offer came in at $382 million. That’s $33 per RuggedCom share—quite a move from the Dec. 16, 2011, price of $13.61. This time, the Canadian company’s board was okay with the offer.
According to a recent Bloomberg.com report, Helmuth Ludwig, who runs industrial operations for Siemens North America, said, “We have a deal book, and RuggedCom was on it, allowing us to act fast after the necessity came up.”
The Bloomberg.com piece also noted that RuggedCom has 360 employees and sales in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, were given as $94 million.
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