Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has bid about $3.7 billion for Gardner Denver, a maker of industrial equipment like blowers and compressors, a person briefed on the matter said on Thursday.
K.K.R. has offered about $75 a share, this person said. That represents an 11 percent premium to Gardner Denver’s closing price on Thursday.
The offer follows a prolonged sales process for Gardner Denver, which disclosed in October that it had hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale. A number of potential buyers had been solicited since then.
News of the bid was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.
