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Auto industry software services group Infomedia (ASX: IFM) is mulling over a second takeover bid in as many weeks after US-based technology investor Battery Ventures lodged a $657 million bid for the company.
The indicative offer, pitched at $1.75 a share, pips the $1.70 bid put forward just two weeks ago by a consortium comprising TA Associates and Viburnum, shortly after the partners snared a 14.5 per cent stake in the company.
Infomedia, a company that provides software-as-a-service solutions to the global automotive industry’s parts and service sector, has warned shareholders that neither proposal is certain of an outcome.
However, the company says it plans to offer Battery Ventures ‘access to the same limited historical information that has been provided to those parties that have executed a confidentiality agreement’.
The takeover interest in Infomedia has led to a 45 per cent surge in the company’s share price from the three-year lows it reached in the past month. The share price hit a high of $1.735 in early trade before settling back to around $1.70.
Infomedia delivers services to the automotive industry across 183 countries and is on track for revenue of between $119 million and $123 million in FY22. This is up from $94.7 million in FY21, from which the company produced a net profit of $15.97 million.
The takeover offers come amid a change in leadership for Infomedia with Jens Monsees stepping in as CEO this week, seven months after Jonathan Rubinsztein announced plans to resign from the position he had held for five years.
Battery Ventures, an acquisitive group that this year offloaded specialist manufacturing software services company Forterro to Partners Group for €1 billion (AUD$1.5 billion), is seeking an exclusivity agreement from Infomedia to proceed with its cash offer which will be funded from existing reserves.
If the Battery Ventures offer is to succeed, it will need the approval of the TA Associates and Viburnum consortium which now controls 54.33 million shares in Infomedia - acquired on May 13. The TA consortium is also offering a cash payment for full control of the company via a proposed scheme of arrangement.
The Boston-based TA Associates is a private equity firm with US$47.5 billion ($66.5 billion) in assets under management, while Viburnum is an Australian funds manager based in Perth.
Infomedia was founded in 1987 founded by Richard Graham who stepped down as chairman in 2014. The company has grown its business organically and through acquisitions. Last year, Infomedia completed the US$24.5 million (AUD$34.3 million) buyout of US-based e-commerce platform SimplePart.
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