US private equity firm Vista Equity is to buy British software firm Blue Prism for £1.1 billion (US$1.50 billion) in a bid to grow its automation technology portfolio, reported Reuters.
Blue Prism, whose customers include automaker Daimler, e-commerce firm eBay and Britain’s NHS, announced that it plans to recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the 1,125 pence-per-share bid announced on Tuesday, September 28, calling the terms “fair and reasonable.”
Shares in the London-listed firm, which had been in talks with Vista as well as TPG Capital over a possible offer, were down 3% at 1,153 pence in early trade after news of the deal, indicating that investors were hoping for a higher price.Jefferies analysts said that as Blue Prism also downgraded its 2021 revenue outlook on Tuesday, that “obviously creates a weak negotiating position to extract a high price.”
Blue Prism becomes the latest British takeover target by a private equity firm, a trend driven by cheap UK valuations following Brexit and the pandemic.
Vista, announcing the agreed deal in a joint statement with Blue Prism, said it views the acquisition as “an exciting and transformational moment for the growth of enterprise-grade Intelligent Automation and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).”
RPA software emulates human actions, particularly repetitive tasks and is used in many industries. Blue Prism’s intelligent automation technologies allow software robots to integrate with advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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