Financial Services Correspondent
A SURPRISE third party has joined the scramble for Softline as the London-listed Sage Group Plc said last night it was "considering" paying at least R709m to buy the JSE-listed IT company a price far higher than the other two proposals.
Software specialist Sage, a member of the London Stock Exchange's FTSE-100 index, sent a letter to Softline yesterday, saying it was considering paying "at least" R1,80 a share.
This is far higher than the much criticised R1,30 a share offered by Softline CEO Ivan Epstein and other managers.
The Sage bid also trumps the R1,45 a share bid proposed by former Softline manager Ivan Ferrer and a Dutch consortium including Exact Holding.
Although Sage's involvement was a surprise, the market has been abuzz with speculation that a third bid was imminent.
The tussle has already lit a fire under the share price, which has boomed to about R1,60.
The imminent bidding war is good news for shareholders who had slammed the R1,30 management offer as far too cheap. This view was given further credence after management's own advisor, KPMG, said the R1,30 offer was unfair to long-term investors.
For Sage Group Plc, which is not related to the SA life assurance firm of the same name, this will be the first step into SA.
When contacted last night, neither Epstein or Ferrer were prepared to comment.
Jun 26 2003 07:28:15:000AM Rob Rose Business Day 1st Edition
Thursday
26 June 2003
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