Nov 1, 2017

Rockwell Automation rejects $27 billion takeover offer

Dan Primack

Rockwell Automation, a Milwaukee-based industrial automation company, has rejected an unsolicited takeover offer of more than $27 billion from St. Louis-based Emerson Electric.

Over and out? It's hard to imagine Emerson is going to take its ball and go home. This is not Emerson's first bid for Rockwell, which Emerson believes could introduce $6 billion worth of synergistic savings. But Emerson has had no luck via private negotiations so, now, the offers have conveniently leaked — thus putting possible shareholder pressure on Rockwell to engage.

Key term: The latest offer reportedly was evenly split between cash and stock, and Rockwell would like to weight that balance toward the former. Not only for shareholder liquidity, but also due to concerns over integration challenges.

Bottom line: "Emerson's offer stems from its desire to be a leader in all areas of automation and to present a stronger competitive offering to industrial companies as European giants such as Siemens, ABB Automation Group and Schneider Electric become more aggressive in the field." — David Faber, CNBC

Add Axios on Google

Rockwell Automation rejects $27 billion takeover offer

What to read next