Ideagen has agreed to be acquired by Rainforest Bidco, a company indirectly controlled by funds managed by UK-based investment firm Hg Pooled Management, in a deal that values the former at £1.09bn.
Based in the UK, Ideagen is a provider of governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) software solutions.
The company caters to highly regulated industries such as life sciences, banking and finance, insurance, and healthcare. Its GRC software is claimed to be used by over 8,000 customers, including major accounting and pharmaceutical companies.
Its customer base includes blue chip, global brands such as Heineken, British Airways, Johnson Matthey, and Aggreko.
As per the terms of the deal, shareholders of the publicly-listed Ideagen will be paid 350p in cash for each share they hold in the software firm. The deal values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of the company at about £1.05bn.
Hg said that Ideagen has built a highly attractive regulatory compliance platform and has a top position in the market.
The investment firm claimed that it is confident in the future prospects of the software company. However, it believes that the prospects will be realised best as a private business where its management will have the flexibility to implement and expedite its existing strategy.
As a privately-held firm, Ideagen is also expected to get access to Hg’s capital and resources for focusing on long term value creation, which includes investments in technology, product, talent and large scale, accretive mergers and acquisition (M&A).
Hg partners Christopher Fielding, Joris Van Gool, and Jean-Baptiste Brian said: “Our experience in the sector gives us strong conviction that Ideagen represents a high-quality platform, and we are committed to providing additional capital and resources that are required to further support and enhance Ideagen’s next phase of growth.”
Ideagen said that its directors consider the terms of the acquisition by Hg to be fair and reasonable. The company’s directors plan to unanimously recommend that its shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
Ideagen non-executive chairman Richard Longdon said: “The all-cash offer represents a compelling and attractive opportunity for shareholders to realise and crystallise their investment in Ideagen in the near term and also provides a significant premium to the prevailing share price notwithstanding the backdrop of the wider risks posed by the political and macro-economic environment.”
The acquisition is subject to the approval of Ideagen’s shareholders and other things.
