By Paul Arnold
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss technology firm SoftwareOne Holding said on Thursday it would acquire Crayon Group Holding in a stock and cash offer which values its Norwegian competitor at around $1.4 billion.
SoftwareOne said it would launch a recommended voluntary stock and cash offer to acquire all outstanding shares in Crayon which values the Norwegian firm at 172.50 Norwegian crowns($15.23) per share, representing a 36% premium to the Dec. 11 closing share price.
A spokesperson for SoftwareOne said there were around 89.6 million Crayon shares outstanding. Previously, the spokesperson had put the number at 88 million.
“The business combination sets the stage for any ownership scenario, and we will now focus our efforts on completing the transaction successfully and integration,” said Daniel von Stockar, chairman of the board of directors of SoftwareOne.
“The compelling strategic rationale and substantial synergy potential are set to create significant value for our shareholders, including those joining from Crayon,” said von Stockar, who is also a founding shareholder of the firm.
Von Stockar and two other founding shareholders ousted SoftwareOne’s board in April after a power struggle in which the trio had tried to delist the company last year.
Under the Crayon deal, SoftwareOne is valued at 10 Swiss francs per share in the share exchange component, a premium of 38%, the companies said in a joint statement, which noted that SoftwareOne currently holds 1.9% of Crayon’s share capital.
The combined company would have total revenue of around 1.6 billion francs ($1.8 billion) with a presence across more than 70 countries and about 13,000 employees, the statement said.
Crayon’s board of directors has unanimously resolved to recommend Crayon shareholders accept the offer, it added.
The deal would trigger accelerated growth and improved profitability driven by run-rate cost synergies of 80-100 million francs to be reached within 18 months of completion, according to the statement.
That is incremental to SoftwareOne’s previously announced cost savings of over 50 million francs, as well as significant revenue synergies.
($1 = 11.3461 Norwegian crowns)
($1 = 0.9002 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Paul Arnold and Rachel More; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
source: https://theprint.in/tech/softwareone-announces-1-4-billion-deal-to-buy-norwegian-rival-crayon/2410263/
