L.B. Foster announced the company has extended its tender offer to merge with Portec to Dec. 30 and in exchange for Portec agreeing to the extension it will sweeten the deal.

L.B. Foster will increase the tender offer share price from $11.71 per share to $11.80 per share and pay Portec $2 million should the transaction not close by Dec. 30.

The merger date has been changed three times since it was initially set in February. The most recent "drop dead" date was Aug. 31.

The primary obstacle to the acquisition has been the concerns of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice particularly related to Portec's domestic joint business. L.B. Foster has suggested that the Department of Justice should approve the transaction if assets related to the joint business at Portec's Huntington, W.Va., facility are sold to another company.

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