Infor makes unsolicited cash bid for Lawson
Enterprise software vendor Infor, in collaboration with private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, has offered to buy Lawson, one of its largest direct business software rivals.
Lawson, best known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software providers, confirmed the unsolicited $1.84bn (£1.14bn) offer from Infor in a statement on Friday. However, it reiterated there is "no assurance" that the $11.25 per share offer will be accepted.
Infor currently produces a variety of business software, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise asset management (EAM) products, and has customers across numerous sectors. Lawson also has a similar range of products and clients across a number of different sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing and service industries.
Whether or not the offer is accepted, the ERP landscape is unlikely to undergo any significant shift as a result of the deal, Paul Hamerman, vice president of enterprise research at Forrester, told ZDNet UK on Tuesday.
Hamerman does note that it would be a good acquisition for Infor and that "Lawson products are complementary in several areas, including human capital management (HCM) and healthcare".
The $1.84bn figure is derived from the offer of $11.25 per share multiplied by the total number of shares outstanding in the company's most recent financial report.
However, Hamerman thinks that the offer is too low and will need to be increased.
"I think the initial bid is probably too cheap, Infor will likely have to sweeten the offer, even in the absence of other bidders. Alternatively, Lawson may decide to sell off product lines rather than the whole company," he told ZDNet UK.
Lawson said it will not comment any further on the deal until an agreement has been reached, discussions have been terminated or the board has concluded its strategic review.
Infor chief executive Charles Phillips joined the company in October 2010. He had previously worked at Oracle and was widely regarded as the driving force behind many Oracle acquisitions since his appointment, including PeopleSoft, BEA Systems and Siebel Systems.
An Infor spokesperson refused to comment on the potential deal in response to a ZDNet UK request.