Emerson Electric's $265 per share tender offer for Aspen Technology is labeled as its best and final price despite criticism from Elliott

Electric confirmed on Monday its "best and final" offer of $265 per share to acquire Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN). This confirmation comes after activist investor Elliott Management expressed opposition to Aspen's decision to accept Emerson's $7.

(Reuters) - Emerson Electric said on Monday that its $265 per-share offer to acquire Aspen Technology was its "best and final" price. The announcement comes days after activist investor Elliott Management said it invested over $1.5 billion in Aspen, opposing the company's decision to accept Emerson's $7.2 billion tender offer.

With a more than $1.5 billion Emerson holding, Elliott has claimed that the $265-per-share offer undervalues Aspen Tech and is advocating a larger proposal. Mark Schappel, a Loop Capital analyst, said Elliott is probably going to persuade enough minority investors Aspen Tech is worth far more than Emerson's current offer.

Late last week, the West Palm Beach-based hedge fund released a statement disclosing it was the largest minority owner of AspenTech, with more than a $1.5 billion stake in the company — and that it opposes the merger.