In Brief: Invacare/Healthdyne

Invacare/Healthdyne: Invacare rejects Healthdyne's proposal that it participate in discussions of alternatives to Invacare's unsolicited takeover bid, calling the offer "nothing more than a `sham' designed to win votes in the proxy contest" at Healthdyne's July 30 annual shareholder meeting. Healthdyne issued a statement June 24 saying it would entertain "strategic alternatives" to Invacare's $15-per-share hostile takeover bid. Invacare could participate in the process, Healthdyne said, if it withdrew its offer and agreed to confidentiality and standstill provisions. Invacare announced June 23 that it has extended for the third time its tender offer of $15 per Healthdyne share. The offer, which had been set to expire June 20 ("The Gray Sheet" June 16, In Brief), is now good until Aug. 1, 1997. In a June 25 release, Invacare says Healthdyne's plan does not indicate that it is serious about a transaction. "If Healthdyne's board were serious" about a sale, "it would declare the company for sale to the highest bidder and commence an auction," Invacare says. "The so-called process referred to in Healthdyne's letter falls far short of this"...