Lawson Software, Inc. (LWSN) confirmed that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Infor and Golden Gate Capital to acquire all of its outstanding common stock at a price of $11.25 per share in cash.
Last week, there were rumors that Lawson was exploring possibilities of selling its software business. The rumors of the sale led to a 13.26% surge in the stock price on March 8, 2011, which closed at $11.19. The stock further gained 0.27% in after market trading. Shares of Lawson closed at $11.55 on March 11, 2011.
The offer from Infor and Golden Gate Capital values Lawson at $1.8 billion. Lawson had hired Barclays Capital, a division of Barclays PLC (BCS) to explore strategic alternatives for the same and plans to retain the latter as its financial advisor to assist in evaluating the proposal, as well as other possible strategic alternatives.
Lawson remains fully committed to its current strategic plan unless and until the Board decides to sell the company or engage in another strategic transaction. The company believes that it is well-positioned to continue executing its strategic plan through organic growth in targeted verticals and disciplined acquisitions.
In 2010, Lawson acquired Healthvision Solutions Inc. for $160 million. Based in Dallas, Healthvision is a privately-held company providing integration and application technology and related services to hospitals and large healthcare organizations.
Most recently, Lawson completed its acquisition of privately-held Enwisen for $70 million. California-based Enwisen is a leading software-as-a-service provider of human resource (HR) service delivery solutions to over 260 customers.
Lawson Software competes primarily in two verticals – health care and retail – which are among the fastest-growing segments of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market. Lawson operates in a highly competitive market dominated by large players such as Oracle Corporation(ORCL) and SAP AG(SAP) in health care, and JDA Software(JDAS), SAP and others in retail.
BARCLAY PLC-ADR (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report
JDA SOFTWARE GP (JDAS): Free Stock Analysis Report
LAWSON SOFTWARE (LWSN): Free Stock Analysis Report
ORACLE CORP (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
SAP AG ADR (SAP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Zacks Investment Research
