Air Products places ‘final’ bid for Airgas

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. said Thursday that it boosted its offer to acquire rival Airgas Inc. by almost 7 percent to $70 per share, and called it its "best and final" offer in what has been a 14-month pursuit of a deal.

The offer, worth about $5.88 billion, was below what Airgas has said its board members were looking for: an offer "meaningfully" above $70 a share.

Airgas said that it will review the revised offer and advised shareholders to take no action for now.

Despite the higher offer, Airgas shares fell $3.85, or 5.8 percent, to $62.12 in late afternoon trading.

Airgas, based in Radnor, Pa., sells industrial and medical gases and provides gas equipment, welding products, tools and safety gear. Air Products, based in Allentown, Pa., sells gases for industrial, medical and other uses.

Air Products, which began its pursuit of Airgas in October 2009, said its latest offer represents a 61 percent premium to Airgas' closing price on Feb. 4, the day before it went public with its first bid. It said the $70 a share offer will not be further increased. The offer expires on Jan. 14.

"It is time to bring this matter to a conclusion," said Air Products CEO John McGlade, in a statement. "The Air Products board has determined that it is not in the best interests of Air Products shareholders to pursue this transaction indefinitely."

Air Products shares rose 96 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $88.02.

In September, Air Products had increased its bid by $2 per share to $65.50 per share.

There are about 84 million Airgas shares outstanding. Air Products said that as of Wednesday, about 2.2 million shares had been tendered into its offer.