Deals
Elliott Stake in Aspen Tech Fuels Traders’ Bets on Higher Takeover Offer
- Stock jumps after activist pushes back on Emerson offer
- Takeover requires a majority of minority holders to approve
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Merger-arbitrage traders are piling into bets that the emergence of Elliott Investment Management as an investor in Aspen Technology Inc. will result in a higher buyout bid from the company’s majority holder Emerson Electric Co.
Aspen Tech rose as much as 4.5% Friday to more than $277 a share, higher than Emerson’s current offer of $265 apiece, as activist Elliott confirmed a more than 9% stake in the industrial-software company and signaled opposition to the current deal price.