The US private equity firm Silver Lake wants to take over the German company Software AG. The investor specializing in technology companies wants to offer Software AG shareholders 30 euros per share, reports the German Press Agency (dpa). Silver Lake would pay about 2.2 billion euros for the Darmstadt-based company. On Friday, the Software AG share traded in the SDax was 19.84 euros at the close of the market.
The takeover bid is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus one Software AG share. Silverlake has more or less secured part of it. In February 2002, the investor acquired convertible bonds from Software AG for EUR 344 million.
Friendly takeover
In addition, by far the largest shareholder, the Software AG Foundation, has signed an agreement to sell 25.1 percent of Software AG shares to Silverlake. The foundation, which most recently held almost a third of the company, fully supports the takeover bid. According to the information, the board of directors and the supervisory board of the Darmstadt-based company want to recommend that the shareholders accept the takeover offer.
(tiw)
