GE went for Ionics,3M for Cuno. Will anybody go after Pall-PLL?
3M to acquire Cuno in $1.35 bln deal
By MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:44 AM ET May 12, 2005
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- 3M Co. agreed to acquire filtration-products manufacturer Cuno Inc. in a deal carrying a total value of $1.35 billion, the companies said Thursday.
Cuno shareholders will receive $72 a share in cash for their holdings. Shares of the Meriden, Conn.-based company ended at $54.82 on Wednesday, implying a buyout premium of about 31%.
In addition, 3M will assume $60 million in existing net debt.
With the deal, 3M will expand its presence in the market for liquid- and gas-filtration products.
Cuno (CUNO: news, chart, profile) shares soared $16, or 29.2% at 70.82, in early action Thursday while 3M (MMM: news, chart, profile) slipped 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.84.
While Cuno specializes in liquid filtration, the companies "have complementary sets of filtration products and the opportunity to bring an even wider range of innovative filtration solutions more effectively to customers around the world," said James McNerney, 3M's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Cuno's attraction to the Dow Jones Industrial Average component stems from its ability to generate compound annual growth rates of more than 9% in sales and more than 30% in earnings per share over the past 10 years.
In the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, Cuno had sales of $351.6 million. 3M said its air-filtration business totals "well over" $1 billion.
According to Cuno, the global filtration market is estimated at nearly $3 billion and is growing at a rate of 7% to 8% annually.
3M said that it plans to fund the deal from existing cash and that the acquisition will begin contributing to earnings in 2006.
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