Merger Arbitrage Mondays – Emerson Announces Proposal to Acquire National Instruments

Merger Arbitrage activity decreased last week with three new deals announced and four deals closing.

In our previous Merger Arbitrage Mondays post, we wrote about three healthcare sector deals that were announced at JP Morgan’s Healthcare Conference. In continuation with that trend, two of the three new deals announced last week were also healthcare sector deals involving contingency payments.

National Instruments Corp. (NATI) – A Potential Deal In The Works

We added National Instruments as a potential deal in the works on January 13, 2023, when the company’s Board of Directors initiated a review and evaluation of strategic options, to maximize shareholder value. The company also went on the defensive by adopting a poison pill provision, making a potential hostile bid difficult if not impossible. Examples of companies adopting a poison pill that were unable to fend off an acquirer include Peoplesoft in 2004 and Twitter last year.

National Instruments Corporation, also known as NI, produces automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. The company’s common applications include data acquisition, instrument control and machine vision.

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