Lawson Software Evaluating Bid From Golden Gate Capital and Infor
St. Paul, Minn.–based Lawson Software Inc., maker of enterprise solutions, received an unsolicited proposal from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital and softwareprovider Infor.
Golden Gate Captial and Infor are offering to buy all of Lawson’s outstanding stock at $11.25 per share. To evaluate the offer, Lawson’s board of directors has retained Barclays Capital Inc. to serve as financial adviser on this proposal.
According to Lawson, Barclays will also assist in evaluating “other possible strategic alternatives.” According to a company statement, “Lawson’s board has not made any determination to sell the company or engage in any other strategic transaction, and there can be no assurance that the unsolicited proposal or the evaluation of strategic alternatives will result in any sale or other transaction, whether with Infor and Golden Gate or any other party. Unless and until the board makes a determination to sell the company or engage in another strategic transaction, the company remains fully committed to its current strategic plan.”
Based in St. Paul and with offices around the world, Lawson provides software solutions for the fashion industry including enterprise business software as well as solutions designed for apparel manufacturers and retailers such as Lawson Fashion PLM, Assortment Replenishment Planner, Point of Sale Integration and Analytics for Fashion.
San Francisco–based Golden Gate Capital invests in a wide range of businesses, including software, electronics, financial services and retail. Among its fashion and footwear investments are Express, J.Jill, Eddie Bauer and Rocketdog.
Infor is a business software and services provider with 70,000 customers in 125 countries, including more than 1,100 apparel and footwear companies. The company’s apparel-specific products include enterprise resource planning, supply-chain management, product lifecycle management, performance management and customer relations management solutions. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company has offices around the world, including California locations in San Mateo, Rancho Cordova and Lake Forest.
Lawson is releasing its thirdquarter financial results on March 31. In addition, the company is holding a webcast and conference call to discuss the results and the company’s future outlook on March 31 at 5 p.m. (EDT).
For more information, visit www.lawson.com. —Alison A. Nieder
