ABB to buy Thomas & Betts for $3.9 billion

[January 30, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- Swiss engineering group ABB says it will buy U.S. company Thomas & Betts Corp., which specializes in low voltage electrical products, for $3.9 billion in cash.

The board of Thomas & Betts has accepted the deal and recommended it to its shareholders.

ABB says the price of $72 a share is a 24 percent premium over Thomas & Betts' closing stock price on Jan. 27.

The deal, its says, is part of its strategy to increase its market presence in North America.

Thomas & Betts employs about 9,400 people and is forecast to report 2011 revenues of about $2.3 billion.

[Associated Press]

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