Carl Icahn is offering to take Clorox private in a deal that values the consumer products maker at about $10.2 billion. The billionaire investor’s firm has proposed paying $76.50 a share for Clorox, which, in addition to cleaning products, makes Hidden Valley salad dressing and the Burt's Bees personal care product line.
The offer is an 11.8% premium over yesterday's closing price for Clorox of $68.43 a share. Clorox stock jumped $8.44, or 12.3%, to $76.87 in premarket trading—slightly above the offered price. Icahn said he outlined the proposal in a letter sent yesterday to Clorox Chairman and CEO Donald Knauss. Icahn is currently the largest shareholder in Clorox. (More Clorox stories.)