MYOB receives AU$1.75 billion takeover proposal
Accounting software firm MYOB has announced receiving a buy-out offer, which would see private equity firm KKR & Co scoop up the company for AU$3.70 per share.
The announcement follows KKR on Monday upping its stake in MYOB to 19.9 percent, after purchasing just under 104 million MYOB shares from Bain Capital for AU$3.15 per share -- approximately AU$327 million. Bain Capital now has a 6.1 percent interest.
The remaining securities would set KKR back around AU$1.75 billion.
"The MYOB board has commenced an assessment of the proposal and will keep the market informed ... the board is committed to acting in the best interests of all shareholders," MYOB wrote in a statement to the ASX on Monday.
"There is no certainty that the proposal will result in a transaction."
MYOB returned to public trading in 2015, after raising AU$833 million for its IPO.
Bain Capital bought MYOB for $1.3 billion in 2011 from Australia's Archer Capital and other shareholders. After returning the accounting firm to the ASX, Bain Capital retained a controlling 57 percent stake.
MYOB earlier this year announced its intention to acquire Reckon's Accountants Group for AU$180 million.
But MYOB in May pulled the pin on the deal, saying it wasn't prepared for how long the regulatory process of the acquisition was going to take.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in late March highlighted concerns over the proposed acquisition, fearing MYOB might gain a market monopoly if it were to proceed.
The ACCC's preliminary view was that the proposed acquisition was likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of practice software to medium and large accounting firms. It was also concerned that if MYOB had a monopoly, it would substantially lessen competition in the local market.
For the 2017 fiscal year, MYOB reported AU$60.7 million in after-tax profit, a 16.3 percent increase over its 2016 figure.
Revenue for the 12 months to December 31, 2017 was AU$416.5 million, while underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled AU$190 million.
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