Cubic Corp receives $2.4 billion buyout offer to rival PE firms’ bid

Cubic Corp said on Monday it had received an unsolicited offer from Singapore’s ST Engineering to buy the company for about $2.4 billion, boosting the software maker’s shares to match the offer price of $76.

ST Engineering’s offer is superior to a rival bid by private-equity firm Veritas Capital and U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management, which together agreed to buy Cubic for $2.2 billion, or $70 per share, last month.

Cubic, whose shares rose as much as 9.2%, said its board had decided to engage in discussions with ST Engineering, which makes automatic fare collection machines for metro stations, to evaluate the new offer. Cubic makes revenue management software for the transportation industry.

ST Engineering said Cubic’s transportation systems business fits with ST Engineering’s strategy to pursue growth in the smart city domain.