03 Sep 10. FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR – News) today will commence a cash tender offer through its wholly owned subsidiary Indicator Merger Sub, Inc., to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of ICx Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICXT – News). On August 16, 2010, the companies previously announced a definitive agreement whereby FLIR agreed to acquire ICx in a cash tender offer and subsequent merger for an aggregate cash purchase price of approximately $274m. Upon the successful closing of the tender offer, shareholders of ICx will receive $7.55 in cash for each share of ICx common stock tendered in the offer,
without interest and less any required withholding taxes. Today, FLIR will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a tender offer statement on Schedule TO that provides the terms and conditions of the tender offer, and ICx will file a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 that includes the recommendation of ICx’s board of directors that ICx shareholders accept the tender offer and tender their shares in the offer. As previously disclosed, the boards of directors of FLIR and ICx have approved the transaction. The tender offer will expire at midnight on October 1, 2010, unless extended in accordance with the merger agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. The closing of the tender offer is conditioned upon the tender of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of ICx common stock on a fully diluted basis. As previously disclosed, Wexford Capital LP and its affiliates, which together own approximately 62% of the outstanding shares of ICx common stock, have entered into a tender and support agreement whereby they have agreed to tender all of their shares in the tender offer, subject to ICx’s board of directors’ continued recommendation of the transaction. The closing is also conditioned upon expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions.

02 Sep 10. Hewlett-Packard appeared to have won the bidding battle for data storage technology company 3Par on Thursday, after Dell said it would not raise its offer and was ending talks. HP made a $33-a-share offer on Thursday, valuing loss-making 3Par at about $2.4bn and outbidding rival PC maker Dell for the fourth time in less than three weeks.
“We took a measured approach throughout the process and have decided to end these discussions,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice-president, corporate strategy.
The bidding war began after Dell made $18-share friendly offer 3Par on August 16. 3Par shares closed at $9.65 just before Dell unveiled its original offer. The premium underscores the importance of data storage and analysis, as big businesses shift towards cloud computing, where information is housed remotely rather than on users’ computers.
3Par said that before Dell’s deadline to outbid HP’s $27-a-share offer ran out on Wednesday night, it had made an offer of $32. Dell said 3Par had rejected its final offer. HP’s share price has fallen as investors worried that it would overpay for 3Par, which operates in a strategic niche attractive to both HP and Dell, which are both trying to mimic IBM’s strategy by becoming one-stop shops for large customers’ technology needs. With historically poor margins in the competitive PC industry, they are also aiming to get more recurring, high-margin sales. Dell was for some time the world’s largest PC maker, but was supplanted after HP
bought Compaq Computer. More recently, Dell followed HP’s move into the service business, buying Perot Systems after HP bought EDS. (Source: FT.com)

08 Sep 10. AeroVironment Inc (AVAV.O) posted narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by growth at its unmanned aircraft systems and efficient energy systems segments, and backed fiscal 2011 revenue growth forecast. For the May-July quarter, the number one supplier of small unmanned aerial vehic