British software company Blue Prism said Tuesday it has agreed a deal to be taken over by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) in cash. Blue Prism, which specializes in software robots that automate repetitive tasks, said Vista would pay each shareholder £11.25 per share, a 35% premium to the company’s last closing price of £8.32.
It’s the latest in a string of private equity deals for publicly-listed software companies. Earlier this year, security firm Proofpoint agreed a $12.3 billion sale to Thoma Bravo, while Cloudera is being bought by KKR and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Blue Prism is also among a multitude of British firms that have attracted interest from U.S. private equity investors. Supermarket chain Morrisons, infrastructure company John Laing and aerospace firm Cobham have all been the target of takeover bids in recent months. Following completion of the acquisition, Vista said it intends to indirectly transfer Blue Prism to portfolio company TIBCO, an enterprise data firm.
Read more/Source: CNBC
