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On 16 November 2021, multinational software company Blue Prism plc  that it had received a preliminary approach from Connecticut financial services software firm SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (SS&C) regarding a possible cash offer of 1,200 pence per Blue Prism share for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the AIM 50 company.

The approach comes after Blue Prism announced on 28 September that it had reached an agreement with Bali Bidco Limited, a company indirectly owned by Texan private equity firm Vista Equity Partners (Vista), on the terms and conditions of a recommended all cash offer of 1,125 pence per share valuing the company at £1.1bn.

The offer from Vista has been publicly attacked by key shareholders, including top ten shareholder Hawk Ridge Capital Management. Many shareholders have voiced concerns regarding the integrity of the Blue Prism board in accepting a low offer for the company, which is considered to be an attractive prospect due to its position in the rapidly growing robotic process automation sector. The deal also attracted negative attention from outraged employees once the news broke that Vista had planned job cuts to streamline Blue Prism’s business. On the announcement of the possible counteroffer, New York based activist shareholder Coast Capital Management publicly voiced its support of SS&C as an ‘incomparably more suitable partner’ to take the company forward.

In its announcement, Blue Prism stated that the board still believed that the offer from Vista represented the best value for shareholders and that it did not retract its recommendation. Nevertheless, to enable the company to explore the offer from SS&C, both the court meeting and general meeting scheduled for 19 November to approve the scheme of arrangement will be adjourned until further notice. A date for SS&C to clarify its intentions has not yet been announced by the Panel, but is expected before the end of the year.

News of the offer was well received by the market, with the company’s share price shooting up by around 9%, closing at 1,220 pence per share on the day of the announcement, a value higher than the offer from SS&C. Although there is widespread speculation that Blue Prism may be the subject of a bidding war, Vista are yet to comment.

Market Tracker will continue to monitor this transaction as it develops.