Washington, DC 5/5/10; Washington, DC 5/21/10; Washington, DC 5/27/10—Symyx Technologies, which last month entered into a merger agreement with Accelrys (see IBO 4/15/10), announced in SEC filings that a competitor has updated its merger proposals initially made during Symyx’s negotiations with Accelrys. The latest revised offer, made on May 24, is for $6.75 per share through a two-step cash tender offer followed by a merger. Symyx stated that although its Board concluded that the offer did not constitute a superior offer, because it “could be expected to result in a superior offer,” the Board would engage in discussions with the competitor. According to the prospectus filed with the SEC on May 5, Accelrys’s offer of 0.7802 shares of common stock for each share of Symyx common stock represents an implied value of $5.07, a 13.4% premium over the stock’s closing price on April 1.