Caliper rejects $102M hostile bid.

Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis in San Francisco

Little Bear Investments LLC on Thursday, Feb. 13, increased its offer for Caliper Technologies Corp. to $110 million after the struggling biotech firm rejected its $102 million proposal.

Little Bear is now offering $4.50 a share for Mountain View, Calif.-based Caliper, which late Wednesday rejected the firm's $4.15 per share bid. The new offer represents a 50% premium to Caliper's closing stock price Tuesday of $3. Shares in the company, which develops so-called lab-on-a-chip technology, a year ago traded above $14.

"After discussions with industry participants within the fluid sciences marketplace …