Shareholders of robotic surgical systems maker Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) have an extra 11 days to consider TRC Capital’s so-called "mini-tender" offer to purchase shares at $405 apiece.
The $405 offer is about 6.4% lower than the stock’s average closing price over the last year and 1.7% less than the stock’s average close since the start of 2014. Originally set to expire Tuesday, Feb. 14, the offer is now open until 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
TRC has already purchased 30 shares of common stock, according to a company statement.
Mini-tender offers, for which TRC Capital is well-known, are direct attempts to acquire less than 5% of a company’s issued shares. TRC is looking to acquire about 0.65%, or 250,000 shares.
Intuitive last month urged shareholders to take a closer look at TRC’s below-market request and to consider the SEC’s warnings that "some bidders make mini-tender offers at below-market prices, hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price."
Meanwhile, Intuitive Surgical is also in search of a new accounting firm after Ernst & Young declined to respond to a "request for proposal" and opted not to stand for re-election as Intuitive’s financial auditor for the year ending December 31, 2014. The device maker has proposals out to other accounting firms as well, according to an SEC filing.
ISRG shares were up 1.3% to $444.56 as of about 3:50 p.m. today.
