SPX Flow Says It Rejected Ingersoll’s $3.59 Billion Offer

(Bloomberg) -- Ingersoll Rand Inc.’s sweetened offer to buy SPX Flow Inc. for $3.59 billion was rejected again by the target’s board, which called the bid insufficient.

The $85-a-share proposal, a 37% premium to SPX’s closing price on July 16, was made June 10, Ingersoll Rand said in a statement Monday. If Ingersoll could seal a deal for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based pump maker, it would be the company’s biggest acquisition since at least 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The unsolicited offer “significantly undervalues” SPX, the board said in a statement. SPX can provide greater value to shareholders by continuing its strategic plan, board members said in a unanimous decision.

SPX surged 22% to $75.93 at the close in New York, marking it’s biggest intraday advance ever and a record price. The stock had climbed 7.1% this year through July 16. Ingersoll fell 4% to $46.25 Monday.

The bid is part of Ingersoll’s effort to bolster its business in pumps, compressors and similar products about two years after it agreed to merge with Gardner Denver Holdings Inc. That deal fortified Ingersoll as one of the world’s leaders in flow control. Ingersoll in June agreed to buy pump maker Seepex for $513 million and Maximus, a controls and software company, for $110 million.

As it has scooped up companies related to flow control, the Davidson, North Carolina-based company has shed other businesses. As part of the Gardner deal, Ingersoll’s heating and cooling operations were spun off to become Trane Technologies Plc. And in June, Ingersoll sold its Club Car golf-cart unit for $1.7 billion to a private equity firm.

SPX rejected Ingersoll’s latest proposal on June 21 and declined a request to “engage in constructive dialogue,“ Ingersoll said. The company said before SPX’s statement that it remains committed to engage with the maker of pumps and valves.

The offer had been sweetened from a $81.50-a-share bid made in late May.

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