Crane Going Hostile In An Effort To Acquire CIRCOR's Under-Managed Assets

Multi-industrial Crane (CR) had indicated before that they were interested in M&A, particularly synergistic deals in the fluid handling and/or aerospace businesses, and now, it’s clear that they’re serious about it. After trying unsuccessfully to engage the board in a friendly negotiated transaction, Crane has gone public with a hostile bid for chronic underperformer CIRCOR (CIR) that I believe offers shareholders more value than they’ll ever see from its current management team.

I don’t know how this story ends, but it’ll be interesting to watch. CIRCOR’s press release confirming the rejection of the deal makes for good comedy, but the reality is that closing hostile deals isn’t so simple. I believe the relatively concentrated ownership of CIRCOR could help apply pressure to the board (GAMCO, Vanguard, Royce, and T. Rowe Price collectively own 45% of the shares), and I believe Crane’s deal is quite fair, but there is no certainty that this deal can get done.

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Crane Going Hostile In An Effort To Acquire CIRCOR's Under-Managed Assets