TXT: Mideast group eyes Textron for $21 a share - report
Shares surge nearly on latest takeover speculation
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 9:45 a.m. EDT April 9, 2009NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Textron jumped 42% at the open Thursday after a Kuwaiti newspaper reported a group of United Arab Emirates companies and a Kuwaiti firm would like to buy the maker of Cessna jets and Bell helicopters.
Citing unidentified sources, Al-Watan Daily said the unidentified group was offering $21 a share for the Providence, R.I., company, according to a report from AFP.
The consortium would reportedly take the commercial side of Textron's (TXT:Textron Inc
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Last: 13.58+4.47+49.06%
10:08am 04/09/2009
TXT 13.58, +4.47, +49.1%) aerospace business and sell the military side to a U.S. company, the newspaper said.
Officials at Textron were not immediately available for comment.
Textron has been facing a liquidity crisis due to future write offs in its financial arm. The company also has a total debt standing at $9.3 billion, or $39 a share, according to a March 2 note from Cowen & Co.
Executives have said they would consider selling some of their core assets if necessary, but also said as late as March 31 that they are ahead of schedule in improving Textron's financial position.
Wall Street analysts have said no one would want to but the entire company because of crisis in Textron Financial.
Investors apparently view a 65% plunge in Textron's share value over the past six months as making the company an attractive takeover target. Rumors of a possible deal this week have helped lift Textron stock more than 20% at the close Wednesday.
Shares of Textron last traded at $12.98, up 42%. The stock topped $15.90 in pre-market action.
Christopher Hinton is a reporter for MarketWatch based in New York.
