Shares of National Instruments Corp. NATI shot up 12.3% toward a five-year high in premarket trading Tuesday, after Emerson Electric Corp. EMR disclosed an improved buy bid in a deal with an implied value of $7.6 billion. Emerson’s stock fell 2.0% ahead of the open. Emerson said it proposed to pay $53 in cash for each National Instruments share outstanding, which is up from its bid of $48 a share submitted in May 2022. The per-share bid represents a 12.8% premium to Friday’s closing price, and a 31.9% premium to Thursday’s closing price; The engineering systems company’s stock had soared 16.9% on Friday after the company announced a strategic review of its options. “Although Emerson would have preferred to reach an agreement privately, given NI’s announcement that it is undertaking a strategic review, and after refusing to work with us toward a premium cash transaction over the past eight months, we are making our interest public for the benefit of all NI shareholders,” said Emerson Chief Executive Lal Karsanbhai. National Instruments’ stock has gained 12.6% over the past 12 months through Friday, while Emerson shares have edged up 0.5% and the S&P 500 SPX has lost 14.2%.
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