Emerson Electric has taken public a monthslong effort to acquire National Instruments with a campaign to convince the measurement systems maker’s board to accept an offer worth about $7 billion. Insightia’s Vulnerability module profiled National Instruments in 2021.

St. Louis-based Emerson said on Tuesday that it was ready to shell out $53 a share in cash to buy National Instruments, a proposal assigning the target an enterprise value of $7.6 billion.

The offer was submitted to National Instruments in early November and followed a lower one of $48 per share made in late May, said Emerson, which also set up a dedicated website to promote the combination. The suitor explained that its decision to make the pursuit public was a response to what it depicted as National Instruments’ refusal to ‘’engage meaningfully.’’

Emerson, which claims to hold 2.3 million National Instruments shares, expressed hope the company’s directors will change their stance on a potential deal but warned that it was ready to launch a proxy contest targeting the board if this did not happen. Emerson has an eight-member staggered board.

‘’We are prepared to run a slate of directors specifically targeting the two members up for reelection, your chairman and former CEO, which will provide NI’s shareholders with an opportunity to express their views to your board on its refusal to engage with us,’’ said Emerson.

In June 2021, Insightia’s Vulnerability module argued that National Instruments was set for activist involvement due to its relative underperformance on total shareholder returns. The report, which can be accessed here by subscribers, raised several other red flags such as National Instruments’ classified board and the long tenure of some directors.

National Instruments shares were up more than 13% at $53.30 each in early trading Tuesday morning in New York. The stock surged 17% to a three-year high of nearly $48 last Friday after the board said it had launched a strategic review.

In the same statement last week, National Instruments also announced a one-year poison pill preventing investors from acquiring more than 10% of its share capital, or 20% in the case of passive institutional investors.