Aspen Technology Stock Hits All-Time High as Emerson Buys Remaining Shares

Key Takeaways

Software maker Aspen Technology (

AZPN

) shares hit an all-time high Monday when technology and software provider Emerson Electric (

EMR

) said it would buy the remaining shares of AspenTech it doesn’t already own for about $7.2 billion.

Emerson said it would pay $265 per share in cash for the minority stake in AspenTech, a nearly 4% premium to Friday’s closing price. The company currently owns 57% of AspenTech’s outstanding shares, and once the deal is completed AspenTech will become a wholly owned subsidiary.

Emerson CEO Lal Karsanbhai called the acquisition “a key milestone in our portfolio transformation,” explaining that the addition of AspenTech would  “advance our vision for software-defined control.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year. At that point, AspenTech shares would cease trading on the
Nasdaq
.

Aspen Technology shares were up more than 3% Monday morning to a record $263.64 and have risen about 30% in the last year. Shares of Emerson Electric dropped about 1.5% on the news, but they remain 35% higher than a year ago.

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