Emerson Electric nears $8-billion deal for National Instruments – sources

By David Carnevali and Anirban Sen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Industrial conglomerate Emerson (NYSE:) Electric is in advanced talks to acquire National Instruments (NASDAQ:) Corp in a deal that could value the measurement equipment maker at about $8 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Emerson outbid other bidders including Fortive (NYSE:) Corp and Keysight Technologies (NYSE:) Inc in the final stages of a sale process for National Instruments with an offer of about $60 per share, the sources said.

The deal could be announced as soon as this week, the sources said, cautioning that the talks could fall apart at the eleventh hour. The sources requested anonymity as these discussions are confidential.

National Instruments launched a formal sale process in January after Emerson threatened to challenge its board if it did not engage in deal negotiations. Emerson dropped its hostile bid once the auction for National Instruments got underway.

Reuters first reported in March that Emerson, Fortive and Keysight were through to the final round of bidding for National Instruments, after breaking news of Emerson’s interest in January.

Austin, Texas-based National Instruments specializes in the production of automated testing and measurement tools for the semiconductor, transportation, aerospace and defense industries.

Emerson has been involved in a string of deals over the last few years to reshape itself into a provider of industrial automation products and services. Last year, it sold a majority stake in its climate technologies unit to Blackstone (NYSE:) Inc in a deal that valued the business at $14 billion.