Elliott Makes Bid to Acquire Mercury Systems
(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a sizable position in Mercury Systems Inc. and has made an offer to acquire the defense electronics manufacturer, according to people familiar with the matter.Â
The size of Elliott's stake and the price it has offered for Mercury couldn't be determined. Talks are ongoing and may not result in a transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.Â
Andover, Massachusetts-based Mercury rose as much as 7.8% in New York trading Wednesday. The stock was up 4.4% to $67.36 at 2:57 p.m., giving the company a market value of $3.8 billion. The stock had fallen about 6% in the past year prior to the news of Elliott's approach.Â
A representative for Elliott declined to comment. A representative for Mercury Systems wasn't immediately available for comment.Â
Elliott is the latest activist to take a stake in Mercury. In December, Jana Partners disclosed a position in the company and planned to push it to explore a potential sale, Bloomberg News reported the time.Â
Starboard Value, the activist fund run by Jeff Smith, also disclosed a 7.3% stake in the company in January, and urged the company to eliminate or revise its so-called poison pill, which makes it difficult for anyone to build a large stake.Â
Mercury is one of the last remaining independent, public suppliers of sophisticated electronics for the aerospace and defense industry after a wave of consolidation in the sector. Last year, private equity firm Veritas Capital agreed to sell Abaco Systems Inc. to Ametek Inc., while FLIR Systems' agreed to sell to Teledyne Technologies Inc.Â
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
