The dance card for New Britain, CT-based Moore Medical appears to be full. On Jan. 29, 10 days after CATALOG AGE reported that the $137.8 million medical supplies cataloger was to become part of McKesson’s Corp.’s Richmond, VA-based medical-surgical business, Moore fielded an offer from Bristol, TN-based SJ Strategic Investments for $15 a share—$3 a share more than McKesson offered.
In a release, Moore says that the decision to enter into a confidentiality agreement with SJ Strategic—mainly to complete due diligence—is consistent with its rights under the McKesson agreement and does not mean the McKesson deal is dead. Moore’s board of directors is reviewing both offers.
SJ Strategic’s interest in Moore is not new. In December it had offered to buy the company for $12.50 a share in cash. It raised its offer to $15 a share but advised that a written response had to be received by Jan. 30—hence the announcement on the Jan. 29.
McKesson’s offer of $12 in cash for each outstanding share of Moore represented a premium of 54% over the average closing price for Moore’s common stock for the 30 days ending Jan. 16. That day, Moore’s stock closed at $10.50–a 52-week high.