A takeover of SoftwareOne by Bain Capital is getting closer and closer. Last month Bain Capital made an unsolicited takeover offer on SoftwareOne, which was declined by the board, now Bain Capital has done a substantially higher offer. SoftwareOne announced it has received the second offer, but is still considering whether or not to accept it.
On June 15, SoftwareOne announced that it had received an unsolicited takeover offer from Bain Capital at 18.50 Swiss francs per share for 100% of the shares. That would make SoftwareOne worth 2.9 billion Swiss francs (3 billion euros). At the same time, it announced that it would not accept the offer. Earlier this year, SoftwareOne appointed a new CEO and a new chairman of the board to guide the company into a new phase focused on growth and further expanding its IT services. The board believes that the path now taken and expected growth will realize more value for shareholders than the acquisition offer.
Cards have been reshuffled
Although Bain Capital will no doubt have been disappointed after the rejected offer, it has not abandoned its desire to acquire SoftwareOne. Bain Capital has submitted another takeover offer to SoftwareOne. The new offer is substantially higher, between 19.50 and 20.50 Swiss francs per share. SoftwareOne’s board will now reassess the acquisition offer, but the chances of SoftwareOne coming into the hands of Bain Capital seem to be increasing.
Large portion of shareholders are in favour of the acquisition
SoftwareOne’s board must ultimately base its choice on what is best for the company and its shareholders. Three large shareholders, Daniel von Stockar, B. Curti Holding AG and René Gilli, with a total of 29% of the shares were already in favor of the first takeover bid. Chances are that with the new bid, the percentage of shareholders in favor of the acquisition has become larger. This also means that the pressure on the board will increase, especially if a majority of shareholders turn out to be in favor of an acquisition. In the end, shareholders can demand the replacement of board members if they are not happy with the decisions made by the board.
In any case, what is in the board’s favor is that the bid has gone up considerably and they have done the shareholders a good service. It will soon become clear what the SoftwareOne board chooses to do.
Also read: SoftwareONE works towards a full-fletched security platform