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April 26, 2011, 7:24 AM EDT
By Adam Satariano and Cecile Daurat
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Lawson Software Inc., a maker of programs that help run businesses, agreed to sell itself to private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital Corp. and Infor for about $2 billion.
Stockholders of Lawson will receive $11.25 a share in cash, according to a statement today. The stock had risen to $12.13 as of yesterday after the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company disclosed on March 11 it was in discussions with Golden Gate and Infor about an unsolicited bid of $11.25 a share.
The offer was 19 percent more than Lawson’s $9.46 average closing price in the 90 days before the March announcement. The company, founded in 1975, makes enterprise software used by companies including Safeway Inc. and Volvo AB. It had about 3,900 employees as of May 2010 and makes money by licensing its software, as well as by providing customer support and maintenance and consulting services.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of Lawson’s largest shareholders, controlled 8.7 percent of the company’s outstanding shares as of March 14, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Golden Gate, based in San Francisco, is a private equity firm with $9 billion in capital under management, according to its website. Its investments have included enterprise software provider Infor, as well as retailers Express Inc. and Eddie Bauer Inc.
--With assistance from Zachary R. Mider in New York and Tom Giles in San Francisco. Editors: Elizabeth Wollman, Cecile Daurat, Ville Heiskanen
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Jennifer Sondag at jsondag@bloomberg.net.
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April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Lawson Software Inc., a maker of programs that help run businesses, agreed to sell itself to private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital Corp. and Infor for about $2 billion.
Stockholders of Lawson will receive $11.25 a share in cash, according to a statement today. The stock had risen to $12.13 as of yesterday after the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company disclosed on March 11 it was in discussions with Golden Gate and Infor about an unsolicited bid of $11.25 a share.
The offer was 19 percent more than Lawson’s $9.46 average closing price in the 90 days before the March announcement. The company, founded in 1975, makes enterprise software used by companies including Safeway Inc. and Volvo AB. It had about 3,900 employees as of May 2010 and makes money by licensing its software, as well as by providing customer support and maintenance and consulting services.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of Lawson’s largest shareholders, controlled 8.7 percent of the company’s outstanding shares as of March 14, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Golden Gate, based in San Francisco, is a private equity firm with $9 billion in capital under management, according to its website. Its investments have included enterprise software provider Infor, as well as retailers Express Inc. and Eddie Bauer Inc.
--With assistance from Zachary R. Mider in New York and Tom Giles in San Francisco. Editors: Elizabeth Wollman, Cecile Daurat, Ville Heiskanen
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Jennifer Sondag at jsondag@bloomberg.net.
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