Earlier Bid Rejected : Tender Offer Raised to $11 for Newport
A Connecticut investor, whose $9.50-per-share offer was rebuffed last week by Newport Electronics, has sweetened his offer for 35% of the company’s stock to $11 per share.
In documents filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Milton B. Hollander upped his original offer to increase his holdings in the Santa Ana maker of electronics instruments.
Hollander--both individually and through a holding company called High Technology Holding Corp.--currently owns 13% of Newport’s shares.
Board Rejects Offer
On July 19, Newport’s directors rejected Hollander’s $9.50 per share offer in favor of two offers it has received from Sensor Control, a Sunnyvale maker of heat and pressure sensors.
Sensor Control has made a tender offer of $9.75 for 43% of Newport’s outstanding shares, said Norman Gray, a Newport board member. In addition, the Sunnyvale firm has made a merger offer to buy the remaining Newport stock at $9 per share, if the tender offer goes through, Gray said.
Two days after rejecting Hollander’s $9.50 offer--but before the $11 offer was made--Newport’s directors voted to recommend that shareholders tender their shares to Sensor Control, Gray said.
No Action on New Offer
“We haven’t taken any action on (Hollander’s latest) offer as far as modifying our recommendation,” Gray said Thursday. “I’m not sure if it’s a possibility. . . . Everybody’s considering meeting. No meeting has been called yet.”
According to the filing, Hollander will seek the resignations of all of the company’s current directors, except for Barret B. Weekes, Newport’s chairman and president, if he gains control of the company.
