Apax, Bain and CVC exploring potential bids for SoftwareOne, sources say

SoftwareOne Holding AG

17/07/2024 17:10

By Amy-Jo Crowley and Oliver Hirt
       LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Apax Partners, Bain Capital
and CVC  CVC.AS  are each exploring potential bids for
SoftwareOne  SWON.S , two people with knowledge of the situation
said, three months after the ouster of the Swiss software
company's board. 
    Talks with interested funds are ongoing, one of the people
said. Four sources mentioned Bain and CVC and two of them also
named Apax.
    SoftwareOne's board was ousted in April after it rejected a
2.9 billion Swiss franc ($3.27 billion) takeover offer by Bain.
    Apax, Bain and CVC declined to comment. A spokesperson for
SoftwareOne declined to comment and referred to a statement
issued in May, when the company said it had been approached by
several bidders.  
    In May, at the time of its first quarter 2024 trading
update, the company said the board had been approached by
several parties regarding a potential going-private transaction
but didn't provide names. 
    Jefferies is advising the board on the matter, a fifth
person with knowledge of the matter said. All five people were
speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are
private. Jefferies did not immediately reply to a request for
comment. 
    Earlier this year, founding shareholders Daniel von Stockar,
Rene Gilli and B. Curti Holding, who own nearly a third of
SoftwareOne stock, won a vote to oust most of the existing board
after it had resisted a sale to Bain.  
    Analysts and investors believed the move would once again
make the company a likely takeover target.   
    SoftwareOne rejected multiple offers from Bain over the
course of last year, saying they provided neither sufficient
certainty, nor reflected the value of the company.  
    SoftwareOne has more than 9000 employees and assists
companies to buy and manage software from other providers such
as Microsoft (MSFT.O), SAP (SAPG.DE), and Adobe (ADBE.O).

($1 = 0.8855 Swiss francs)

 (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Oliver Hirt in
Zurich. Writing by Anousha Sakoui; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
 ((amy-jo.crowley@thomsonreuters.com))