Emerson Electric near deal to acquire National Instruments – Bloomberg

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) is advanced talks to purchase National Instruments (NASDAQ:NATI) after beating a rival bid from Fortive Corp. (FTV).

Emerson (EMR) is discussing paying about $60 a share for National Instruments (NATI), according to a Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar. A deal for the maker of measurement equipment could be announced as soon as this week, though plans could still change.

A potential deal comes after Emerson (EMR) was competing with Fortive (FTV) and Keysight Technologies (KEYS) for National Instruments (NATI), according to media reports. Keysight may have had issues with its bid due to potential antitrust issues with a National Instruments (NATI) combination.

Emerson (EMR) offered $53 a share in cash for National Instruments (NATI) in January.

National Instruments (NATI) in January said its board had begun to weigh strategic alternatives and that potential acquirers had approached it.

The company in January sought more potential acquirers after Emerson (EMR) said it would challenge the company’s board of directors if it didn’t negotiate a buyout deal. Emerson (EMR) backed off from those plans after the bidding process began.