Content area
Full Text
FLIR Corp. [FLIR], a leader in imaging systems for surveillance and targeting for government and commercial customers, this week said it has agreed to acquire ICx Technologies [ICXT] for $274 million in cash in a deal that will bolster its surveillance solutions with radar, add a suite of detection products in the chemical, biological, nuclear and explosives space, and give it additional systems integration capabilities.
The agreement assumes a $7.55 purchase price for each share of ICx common stock, less than half the price the company's shares garnered at its initial public offering in November 2007. Following the initial offering, ICx' stock price quickly tumbled due to uncertainties in the security market (Defense Daily, Nov. 19, 2007).
However, in late July, ICx' stock price was over $8.00 and at least two law firms yesterday said they would investigate whether the company's board of directors breached their fiduciary duty by agreeing to sell the company before adequately shopping it around. Benchmark Capital security analyst Josephine Millward said in a note to clients that her sources suggest that there could still be another bidder among the large defense contractors for ICx.
At the end of trading yesterday, ICx' stock price closed at $7.71, up 96 cents, or more than 14 percent from Friday, higher than FLIR's offering price, indicating that investors believe a larger bid may be in store.