In a letter to Epicor's channel, the company's CEO George Klaus said that, "the combination of Epicor and Activant is very compelling. Activant has built a tremendous reputation through its industry-specific focus and vertical expertise in wholesale distribution and hard goods retailing." Klaus continued that there was very little overlap in the markets addressed by the companies. Epicor filed that communication with the SEC, along with a statement to Epicor employees. Activant's products included Eclipse, a wholesale distribution that the company acquired from Intuit, the Prophet21 commerce center, Ultimate for large warehouse distributors and jobbers operating a multi-store enterprise, and Vision for the automotive after-market. Shareholders controlling about 19 percent of Epicor's shares have entered into support agreements with Apax and Elliott Associates, an investment firm that tried to buy Epicor two years ago, has indicated it will support the transaction. Elliott owns about 13.5 percent of Epicor's shares, according to an Epicor press release.
EPICOR, ACTIVANT A $2-BILLION DEAL
Epicor Software has agreed to a buyout offer from private-equity firm Apax Partners. The deal is valued at roughly $976 million based on a $12.50 per share price. Epicor will be combined with another ERP company, Activant, that Apax is also buying with Epicor remaining as the surviving name. The combined company will have about $825 million in annual revenue And Apax says the combined purchase price is about $2 billion. Activant, a public reporting company but not publicly traded, is controlled by investment funds affiliated with Hellman & Friedman, Thoma Bravo and JMI Equity.
