Bain Capital’s SoftwareOne Chase Stalls Over Price
(Bloomberg) — Bain Capital’s pursuit of SoftwareOne Holding AG has stalled after a fresh offer of almost 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.5 billion) received a lukewarm response from the software firm’s board, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Bain made a new bid in recent days that’s below its previous proposal of 19.50 francs to 20.50 francs per share, the people said. SoftwareOne signaled to Bain that the latest offer won’t be enough to win support from its board, and the buyout firm is unlikely to proceed with an unsolicited bid, they said.
At least one large SoftwareOne shareholder has expressed frustration over the situation and may now take further action to increase pressure on the company’s senior management to pursue a deal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Representatives for Bain and SoftwareOne declined to comment.
The latest twist comes after months of back and forth between SoftwareOne’s management and potential acquirers. The company in the summer rejected a Bain bid of as much as 20.50 Swiss francs and instead launched a strategic review including a public auction.
Since then, SoftwareOne’s share price has fallen because of slowing business and declining confidence about the possibility of a deal coming together. The company’s stock closed at 16.21 francs in Zurich on Friday, giving the company a market value of about 2.6 billion francs.
–With assistance from Swetha Gopinath.
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