ERI denies ‘takeover target’ story

Energy Recover Inc (ERI), US manufacturer of desalination energy-recovery devices, denied on 20 November 2012 that it was a takeover target, following a report on Bloomberg Business Week based on a telephone interview with ERI’s CEO, Tom Rooney.

“While the company, as a matter of policy, does not comment on rumors,” said an ERI release, “it feels compelled to correct the facts as reflected in the Bloomberg story … Mr Rooney did not imply, or intend to imply, that the company was in discussions with potential buyers.”

In the Bloomberg story, Rooney was quoted as saying: “There are a lot of industrial concerns that are looking at us. We don’t really want to be bought out.”

ERI’s statement emphasized this last point: “Mr Rooney stated that the company has no interest in entertaining the notion of a potential acquisition at this time. Importantly, the company remains intensely focused on the tenacious execution of its long-term strategy, the successful implementation of which should provide the greater benefit to its shareholders.”