MYOB falls to private equity takeover

The protracted takeover of accounting software giant MYOB by private equity firm Manhattan Software Bidco has finally come to an end, with Mahnattan winning the 50% of shareholder acceptances it needed to take control of the company.

The protracted takeover of accounting software giant MYOB by private equity firm Manhattan Software Bidco has finally come to an end, with Mahnattan winning the 50% of shareholder acceptances it needed to take control of the company.

MYOB’s board, including founder Craig Winkler, will now sell their shares into the deal, giving Manhattan a further 30% of the company.

MYOB chairman Simon McKeon says MYOB was the first Australian example of a well-performed company acquired under a hostile bid following the onset of the financial crisis.

He says the board attempted to run an auction process to get the maximum price for MYOB shareholders and was pleased to have extracted a higher bid from Manhattan, which lifted its base offer from $1.02 to $1.05 last week.

However, it is clear that not everyone is please with the way the bid turned out.

“This has been a bid that divided shareholders,” McKeon told The Australian Financial Review. “And I know that some of the intuitions which have accepted in the past day or so have done so with a heavy heart.”

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