Steel Partners Issues Ultimatum to InMode in Ongoing $814 Million Buyout Battle
Steel Partners issues an 11-day ultimatum to InMode over its $16.75 per share buyout offer, citing stalled negotiations, lack of data room access, and escalating legal disputes between the activist fund and the medical aesthetics company's board.
Medical aesthetics company InMode, which has been at the center of a buyout battle since the beginning of 2026, received an ultimatum today from Steel Partners, a shareholder holding a 3.18% stake in the firm. The fund's acquisition offer of $16.75 per share, representing a 19% premium over its current market price, will remain valid for only 11 more days, until the end of October. Steel has threatened to take legal action against the board if it fails to seriously consider the proposal. Steel has already filed a lawsuit against the company's board and management at the Haifa District Court.
InMode is currently traded at a market capitalization of $814 million, with a share price similar to that seen last January when the control battle began. During the events, the company's share surged by up to 18%, but dropped back to its initial price after none of the acquisition offers were accepted. At its peak in 2021, the company traded at a valuation of $7.5 billion.
Two weeks ago, Steel's management team arrived in Israel to discuss its proposal with the board, and meetings between Steel and InMode are scheduled to take place today in New York. According to Steel's letter, InMode's board demanded as a condition for continuing discussions that the fund withdraw a petition it had filed against the company. Steel agreed to freeze rather than cancel the petition. Steel argues that meanwhile, no non-disclosure agreement has been signed, no data room access has been granted, and no documents necessary for conducting due diligence and advancing the deal have been provided, adding that conditioning data access on dropping lawsuits constitutes a blatant breach of the board's fiduciary duties to shareholders.
Sources close to the company confirm that InMode demanded Steel withdraw the petition as a condition for continuing negotiations. However, they claim that Steel was the party that failed to sign the NDA, and thus did not receive the information.
Steel's offer was originally submitted alongside a counter-offer by an investor group led by the company's founder and CEO, Moshe Mizrahi, which offered to acquire the firm at $16.2 per share. However, that offer expired about a month ago, leaving Steel's proposal as the sole open offer on the table.
