WHX Makes Hostile Bid for Global Industrial

New York-based WHX Corp., the nation’s eighth-largest steelmaker, made a hostile offer of $10.50 a share, or just more than $208 million, for the 90% of Global Industrial Technologies Inc. it doesn’t already own. WHX’s bid for Global, which makes refractive linings for steel furnaces, represents a premium of about 25% over Global’s Monday closing price of $8.38. Dallas-based Global said it wasn’t for sale after WHX, parent to steel manufacturer Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp., acquired a 9.9% stake in October. In response, Global amended its shareholder rights agreement to entitle shareholders to buy stock at a steep discount when a hostile suitor acquired 10% of its shares, lowering the trigger on the “poison pill” defense from 15%. WHX shares fell 50 cents to close at $10, while Global shares climbed $2.25 to $10.63, both on the NYSE.