A San Jose competitor has jumped into the bidding for Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp.
MIT Capital Inc. on Tuesday proposed to acquire all of Meade’s outstanding common stock for $3.65 per share, or roughly $4.2 million, according to regulatory filings.
The cash bid represents a 20 cent per share premium from the price offered last month by the North American unit of Jinghua Optics & Electronics Co., which Meade’s board has recommended.
JOC North America LLC, the parent of Meade’s former Europe subsidiary, is a unit of Guangzhou, China-based Jinghua Optics & Electronics, a Meade supplier that sees more than $15 million in annual sales.
MIT and its subsidiaries make, sell and distribute laser and optics products.
Meade designs and manufactures telescopes, binoculars and microscopes for the consumer market.
MIT chief executive Jason Tian said the combination of Meade and MIT would revive the Meade brand by creating new markets in emerging countries.
Meade lost about $1.4 million on $21.5 million in revenues in its last fiscal year, which ended in February
Its shares were up 5.1% at the close of trading Tuesday to a market value of about $4.2 million, following the MIT disclosure.
