Open Text to Buy Rival Hummingbird for USD 489 mln
Provider of enterprise content management Open Text has agreed to buy all of rival Hummingbird’s outstanding shares in an all-cash transaction valued at about USD 489 million, beating an earlier bid by Symphony Technology Group.
The offer of USD 27.85 a share is subject to the approval of two-thirds of Hummingbird shareholders, who will vote at a meeting slated for late next month, the companies said yesterday.
The deal, which will require court and regulatory approval, is expected to close in early October.
After Symphony announced its plans to acquire Hummingbird for USD 26.75, Open Text approached Hummingbird with an offer of .25 a share. Because Hummingbird has decided to enter the deal with Open Text, it has paid Symphony a break fee of .7 million, it said.
In an earlier statement, Open Text said that it intends to finance the offer through cash on hand and committed loan facilities to be provided by a Canadian chartered bank pursuant to a binding commitment letter. It does not intend to issue equity in connection with the completion of this acquisition.
