L-3 Fails to Get Two-Thirds of Spar

L-3 Communications Holdings, whose offer for Spar Aerospace Ltd. expired Thursday night without drawing the required two-thirds of shares outstanding, said it will buy what stock was tendered and extend its offer to Dec. 3.

L-3, a New York-based maker of military communications systems and flight data recorders, said its bid of $9.69 a share was accepted by holders of 65.8% of Spar’s shares outstanding.

Toronto-based Spar, an aviation services provider whose customers include the U.S. Navy, was the target of a shareholder revolt led by investor Eric Rosenfeld in 1999 after the stock lost half its value. It rebounded this year, gaining 84%. Some shareholders say it will take a higher bid to get them to part with their stakes.

If it fails to reach the two-thirds threshold, L-3 said it will consider leaving Spar as a publicly held unit of the company.

L-3 shares rose 11 cents to $84.50 on the NYSE.