With M&A activity increasing across the technology sector, simulation specialist MSC.Software saw its fortunes rise again today with yet another volley in the private-equity bidding war that could determine the company’s fate.
MSC reported today that original bidder Symphony Technology Group and its subsidiary, Maximus Holdings, Inc., had upped their offer to $8.40 per share, and that MSC has agreed to be acquired on those terms.
The bid is the latest in a succession of offers between Symphony and unnamed private equity parties. A recent report in the Wall Street publication The Deal Pipeline identified the anonymous interests as Silicon Valley investors Golden Gate Capital and Vector Capital. An MSC spokeswoman today declined to comment on the speculation.
The $8.40 per-share proposal bests the $8.30 offer MSC received from the unidentified suitors last week. In what is becoming boilerplate language for MSC, the company today said in a statement, “In light of Symphony’s revised offer, the MSC board of directors determined that the new offer [the unnamed suitors’ bid] no longer constituted a superior proposal under the terms of the Symphony agreement and authorized MSC to enter into the Symphony amendment.”
The latest offer brings the deal value to more than $380 million. MSC has set Oct. 9 as the date of a shareholder meeting to vote on the Symphony offer.
As reported in Managing Automation at the time, Symphony’s original bid of $7.63 per share drew fire from investors. Today investors bid up MSC’s shares after news of the deal broke, with the stock reaching $8.40 by the close of trading.