ST Engineering raises bid for Cubic Corp to US$78 per share

SINGAPORE Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) has proposed to acquire all of New York-listed Cubic Corporation's outstanding stock for US$78 per share in cash, up from its previous US$76-a-share offer.

In a bourse filing on Tuesday morning, the group announced that it delivered the revised proposal to Cubic's board.

No definitive terms or agreements have been agreed upon or executed, said ST Engineering. There is also no certainty or assurance that its proposal will be successful or will materialise, it added.

The group's new offer represents a premium of 11.4 per cent over the US$70-per-share in cash proposal agreed to by Cubic with an affiliate of Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation, which was announced on Feb 8, 2021.

Cubic had some 31.8 million outstanding shares on the open market as at March 30, according to Yahoo Finance. This means ST Engineering would be paying about US$2.48 billion to acquire the company at its latest bid price, up 2.6 per cent or US$64 million from the original US$2.42 billion price tag which would have resulted from Cubic's buyout at the group's previous US$76-per-share offer.

ST Engineering's latest announcement confirms an earlier Dow Jones report that the group's offer for Cubic had been boosted to US$78 a share. Citing people familiar with the matter, the newswire early Tuesday morning noted that ST Engineering's move came after competing private equity duo, Veritas Capital and Elliot Management Corporation, raised their bid to US$72 a share from the US$70-per-share offer.

Neither of the revised bids had been previously reported at the time of publishing.

ST Engineering plans for Cubic's transportation systems (CTS) business to serve as the global headquarters of its smart mobility business. The group also intends to invest in CTS and retain the "Cubic" brand.

READ MORE: STE's proposed acquisition of Cubic a leg up for smart city ambitions