Three mergers attracted the attention of investors today,3M Company (MMM) announced on Monday that it has agreed to pay about $847 million for the acquisition of the world’s leading high-tech industrial ceramic product developer and manufacturer Ceradyne Inc. (CRDN).
Pusuant the take over agreement, 3M will pay each share of Ceradyne stock for $35, representing a premium of 43% over last Friday’s CRDN closing price.
3M expects Adjusted earnings per share will increase by 1 cent for the first year after the completion of this acquisition. Promoted by the news, CRDN stock price has surged more than 42% with 11.82 million shares traded and MMM stock price is up nearly 2% with 2.09 million shares traded this morning.
Integrys Energy Group (TEG), a diversified energy holding company, announced on Monday that its subsidiary. Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) has agreed to pay $440 million for the acquisition of Fox Energy Co. LLC.
Under the agreement, Wisconsin Public Service will pay $390 million for the acquisition of the Fox Energy Center, a combined cycle power plant with an installed capacity of 593 MW. In addition, the company will pay an additional $50 million to terminate the facilities use agreement between the two companies ahead of expiration time.
The transaction is expected to be completed by April 1 next year, but it needs to obtain the approval of Fox Energy’s creditors who provided project financing for the company, as well as the approval of the state and federal regulator. After the announcement, TEG stock price has risen nearly 3% in the early session today with 344,865 shares traded.
U.S. diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. (HON) announced on Monday that its subsidiary UOP has agreed to pay $525 million for the acquisition of 70% stake in privately held natural gas processing and handling equipment manufacturer Thomas Russell Co. UOP also has the option to acquire the remaining 30% stake in Thomas Russell.
Honeywell expects the acquisition will be completed in the fourth quarter and said the transaction will not affect its fiscal 2012 earnings per share, instead, it will help to improve the profitability of the fiscal year 2013. HON stock price is up 2.33% with 2.06 million shares traded in the morning session.