Clearlake sticks to $71/shr offer for Blackbaud, urges strategic review
29/03/2023 12:34
March 29 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Clearlake
Capital on Wednesday reiterated a $71 per share offer for
Blackbaud Inc BLKB.O that it had previously rejected and urged
the cloud software firm to explore strategic alternatives.
Clearlake, the largest shareholder in Blackbaud with an
18.3% stake, has been persistently attempting to acquire the
company in the last few months.
Responding to the latest offer that pegged it at about $3.8
billion, the firm said on Monday the proposal was "highly
opportunistic and significantly undervalues Blackbaud."
Last year, Blackbaud adopted a shareholder rights plan or a
so-called "poison pill" to protect itself from a takeover after
the private equity firm said it was talking to the firm's
management about evaluating alternatives.
"Many enterprise software companies have a challenging path
forward in the current environment, and we believe the company's
current challenges would be best addressed by exploring
strategic alternatives via a formal process to maximize
stockholder value," Clearlake said in a letter to the company on
Wednesday.
Blackbaud did not immediately respond to a Reuters request
for comment.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann
Thoppil)
((Eva.Mathews@thomsonreuters.com;))