Emerson Electric’s $1.2 billion bid to take control of Avocent Corp. will be delayed by at least two weeks, the company revealed today, as the deal has yet to receive the blessing of antitrust regulators in Austria, Germany, and Hungary.
Emerson announced the agreement early in October, saying that Avocent’s board had approved the $25-per-share offer. Avocent is a $657 million, Huntsville, AL-based maker of data center technology, including IT management and power distribution software, network switching hardware, and other connectivity products. In its original announcement, Emerson said that Avocent’s configuration and monitoring technologies “complement Emerson Network Power’s power systems, energy management, and precision cooling solutions.”
The original tender offer was scheduled to conclude on Thursday, but the absence of regulatory approval from the three European countries has forced Emerson to extend the deadline to Nov. 30. “The receipt of all requisite clearances and approvals from the antitrust authorities in these jurisdictions is a condition to the consummation of the offer,” the company said in a statement today.
The pact stood up to regulatory scrutiny in the United States, receiving the Federal Trade Commission’s approval on Oct. 23, according to Emerson. And the vast majority of Avocent shareholders appear to have liked the terms; Emerson noted in its statement that 94% of Avocent’s common stock has been tendered to date.