Ceradyne Shares Surge on 3M Deal News

By Trey Thoelcke Published Oct 1, 9:09AM EDT

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Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) shares jumped in premarket trading after 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) announced that it plans to acquire the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based maker of ceramic products for about $860 million. The $35 per share offer represents a premium of about 43% to Ceradyne’s Friday closing price.

Under the terms of the deal, 3M will initiate a tender offer to buy all outstanding shares of Ceradyne within 10 business days. The board of Ceradyne has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

3M said in a statement:

Ceradyne is an excellent complement to our existing businesses in transportation, energy markets and defense. By joining 3M, Ceradyne associates will have the opportunity to use the power of 3M’s global reach, culture of commercializing new products and operational discipline to accelerate this platform in serving our customers with highly valued solutions.

Ceradyne CEO Joel Moskowitz noted:

3M is renowned for its innovation, its R&D and its global reach. This is a great fit and I know that advanced ceramics technologies have a tremendous future within 3M and can contribute to the development of unique solutions for many demanding applications.

Ceradyne will become part of the 3M Energy and Advanced Materials division. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

Ceradyne shares are up 43% in premarket trading to $34.94. The 52-week range is $19.45 to 36.61. Shares of 3M are inactive in premarket trading.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.