ST. LOUIS — Emerson Electric Co., the Ferguson-based technology and engineering company, is in discussions about merging its software assets with industrial software company Aspen Technology Inc., Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is in talks to combine its software assets with Aspen Tech while gaining majority control of the combination for its shareholders, the people told the news agency. Bloomberg said the sources asked not to be identified as the talks are private.
Bedford, Massachusetts-based Aspen Tech (Nasdaq: AZPN), with a market value of about $8.4 billion, would keep its own public listing and its management would stay on after the deal to run the combined business, according to the report.
A representative for Emerson, with a market valuation of about $57 billion, declined to comment to Bloomberg, and Aspen Tech didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, the news agency said. Sources told Bloomberg that no final decisions have been reached.
Emerson's share rose as much as 3.5% after the close of regular trading Wednesday, and Aspen's shares rose as much as 8%, the news agency said.
A software deal with Aspen would follow Emerson's purchase in October last year of Minneapolis-based Open Systems International, a provider of grid automation software for utilities, for $1.6 billion.
While Emerson, founded in 1890, has long had an identity as a manufacturing giant, an ambitious acquisition strategy and diversification of its revenue portfolio has transformed the company into a software giant.
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