KKR & Co. agreed to buy Circor International Inc. for $1.7 billion including debt after boosting its offer for the maker of industrial valves and pumps.
KKR increased the all-cash price of its previously announced merger agreement to $51 a share from $49, according to a statement Tuesday. KKR also has agreed to provide a full equity backstop for the completion of the merger.
The decision by KKR to raise the price came after Burlington, Massachusetts-based Circor received an unsolicited proposal from a third party to buy the company for $52.65 a share in cash. Despite the price difference, Circor’s board unanimously decided in favor of KKR’s raised offer “because it offered more financing certainty and a clearer and faster path to receiving antitrust approvals,” the company said.
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