Chlorides’ board has accepted the last $1.51 billion offer from Emerson, after its opponent – Swiss engineering conglomerate ABB - said last week it was not willing to raise its $1.25 billion bid for the UK´s company.

After considering its options, on 1 July ABB finally decided not to match Emerson’s offer. “While we still see considerable value in the combination of ABB and Chloride and have a high regard for the Chloride management team, we must take a disciplined approach when assessing potential acquisitions,” said Joe Hogan, ABB’s CEO.

The path was clear for Emerson to do its final proposition, and on 2 July the American company announced that it has acquired, through open market purchases, 49,998,079 shares of Chloride, representing approximately 19 percent of the issued share capital of Chloride, at a price of 378.3 pence per share, or $5.74. The Chloride shares were purchased by Rutherfurd Acquisitions Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emerson.

Emerson's offer is about a 35 percent increase over its previous bid ($1.1 bn), and about a 90 percent premium to Chloride's average stock price in the three months before the bidding commenced late April, according to The Wall Street Journal. First Emerson´s attempt was rejected by Chloride as it “undervalued” the company.

Chloride is the fourth player in the global UPS market, while Emerson is the second, next to Eaton. The conjunction of both providers will reduce the gap to the leader, France's Schneider Electric. Both Emerson and Chloride are major providers of electrical infrastructure for data centers. Emerson said it believes a combination with Chloride will “create a powerful force in the global UPS.”

Emerson will also increase its presence in the European backup power market, as more than a half of Chloride's annual revenue comes from Europe.