Emulex mulls over £570m bid

Broadcom ups bid for fibre channel host bus adapter vendor

Broadcom has raised its bid from $9.25 per share to $11

Storage network components vendor Emulex’s board of directors has agreed to review the new buyout offer made by semiconductor vendor Broadcom.

Previously rejecting Broadcom’s offer of $764m (£471m), Emulex has agreed to review the new bid to buy out all outstanding shares of stock for $925m. The bid sees Broadcom raise its offer from $9.25 per share to $11.

Broadcom first showed interest in Emulex in December but had its offer rejected the following month.

With 850 employees, Emulex makes fibre channel host bus adapters used to attach application servers to storage area networks and network-attached storage systems.

In a letter to Emulex's board of directors Scott McGregor, chief executive of Broadcom, pressed for a quick deal.

“We believe combining our two companies will create significant value for our respective shareholders, employees, customers and partners," he said. "We believe the best way to realise this value is to act now to capitalise on the opportunities our two companies could create together. Delay – and its associated business risks and financial costs – erode the value of a combination.

“We hope this new approach will lead to a mutually beneficial dialogue and, ultimately, to a friendly transaction… it remains unclear to us that Emulex is likely to achieve value for its shareholders greater than our significantly enhanced cash offer within a reasonable period of time on a standalone basis.”