(Reuters) -Swiss technology firm SoftwareOne Holding on Thursday announced a deal to acquire Crayon Group Holding in a stock and cash offer that valued its Norwegian competitor at around $1.34 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.
A spokesperson for SoftwareOne said there were around 88 million Crayon shares outstanding.
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 firm would have total revenue of around 1.6 billion francs ($1.78 billion) with a presence across more than 70 countries and around 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)
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