Unit Instruments Cuts Acquisition Price

Unit Instruments Inc., a Yorba Linda-based maker of computer-chip equipment parts, said it agreed for a second time to reduce the price at which it will be acquired by U.S. Filter Corp.

Under the new terms, U.S. Filter, the No. 1 water-treatment company, will pay between $8 and $10 in stock for each Unit Instruments share, or a maximum of about $40 million. That’s down from $11.03 in stock for each Unit Instruments share, or $44 million, in the previous agreement, announced Aug. 5.

In the original agreement, announced July 2, U.S. Filter was to have paid $12.62 a share, or about $50.5 million.

Unit Instruments shares were unchanged Thursday, closing at $8.38. Since the original agreement was announced, its shares rose as high $11.25 on July 6 and fell as low as 3.13 on Oct. 12.

The new agreement, under which the price to be paid for Unit Instruments will depend on U.S. Filter’s stock price, is meant to address the “volatility of the stock market,” said Unit Instruments Corporate Secretary Gary Patten.

He said the new agreement gives U.S. Filter the option of terminating the agreement if its average share price is below $11 in the 20-day period ending five days before the merger closes. U.S. Filter stock closed at $20.94 a share, off 6 cents.