3M Dips Into Its Cash Pile
3M Co. (MMM) said Monday that it will bid $943 million for a maker of fingerprint-recognition technology, the latest in a series of moves by big companies to dip into their cash hoards to fuel growth through acquisitions.
The industrial conglomerate, whose products range from health-care supplies to abrasives and Post-it notes, said it will offer $10.50 a share for Cogent Inc., Pasadena, Calif., whose board recommended that shareholders accept the bid.
3M, which is based in St. Paul, Minn., said the net cost of the proposed acquisition would be around $430 million because Cogent holds about $18 million of cash and $496 million of marketable securities, including U.S. government, corporate and municipal bonds.
“Companies are flush with cash,” said Robert Profusek, global head of the mergers and acquisitions practice at law firm Jones Day, which wasn’t involved in the deal. “You’ve got to put it to use.”
