National Oilwell buys Robbins & Myers for $2.6 billion
HOUSTON -- Oilfield-services equipment maker National Oilwell Varco (NOV) has agreed to acquire Robbins & Myers Inc. for $2.55 billion, a deal that will expand the company's offerings of tools, pumps and valves used in oil production.
Robbins & Myers shareholders will receive $60 a share, a 28% premium to Wednesday's close. Shares of the maker of equipment for energy, chemical and industrial producers were up nearly 27% at $59.31 in recent premarket trading. Shares have never traded above the offer price.
NOV has grown to become the sector's dominant equipment maker through mergers. Both companies have benefited over the past year from demand in the oil-and-gas sector, which uses increasingly complex methods to extract fuel from hard-to-reach reserves.
"We feel that our combined manufacturing infrastructure and portfolios of technology will further advance our presence in the oil and gas markets we serve," NOV Chairman and Chief Executive Pete Miller said.
08/09/2012