KKR Submits Gardner Denver Bid
02/22/2013| 12:16am US/Eastern
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KKR & Co. (>> KKR & Co. L.P.) on Thursday bid about $3.7 billion for industrial pumps manufacturer Gardner Denver Inc. (>> Gardner Denver, Inc.), according to a person familiar with the matter, capping a hot-and-cold sales process that looked more promising for the company a year ago.
The private-equity firm appeared to be the only suitor lobbing in a bid ahead of a Thursday deadline for offers. Other firms, including TPG, Onex Corp. and CCMP Capitol Advisors showed some interest in Gardner Denver, but they proved less interested than KKR, people familiar with the matter have said.
At $75 per share, KKR's bid is a roughly 11% premium to Thursday's closing price of $67.47.
A Gardner Denver spokesman declined to comment.
Several buyout firms put in offers for Gardner Denver late last year, but the company set them aside to negotiate a deal with rival SPX Corp. (>> SPX Corporation), which was offering closer to $4 billion for the company, other people familiar with the matter said. SPX dropped its bid amid negative reaction from shareholders, after which Gardner Denver restarted talks with buyout firms, those people said.
Gardner Denver is set to report earnings results on Friday. In the third quarter, the company's revenue fell 11% from the same period a year earlier to $548 million, and its profit declined 13% to $64 million.
Shares have been trading higher since last summer when the company announced it was considering a sale, though they dipped this week on news that interest in the company was waning.
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