Manhattan secures 90 per cent of MYOB shares

Manhattan Software has secured over 90 per cent of shares in ASX-listed software vendor, MYOB (ASX: MYO).

As part of its updated agreement, Manhattan will pay MYOB shareholders an additional 10 per cent per share, bringing the total cost of the acquisition to $1.15 per share. According to a statement dated January 6, Manhattan holds 90.89 per cent of shares. Its offer closes on January 14.

The company said it will send a confirmation letter once debt financing conditions are satisfied or waived.

“As soon as practicable after the confirmation letter is issued, Manhattan Software will formally vary its offer to increase the offer consideration by $0.10, as proposed, and will commence the process of compulsorily acquiring MYOB shares that are not accepted into the offer,” Manhattan said in an ASX statement.

MYOB CEO, Tim Reed, was pleased with the bid’s progress.

“Once acceptance had gone over 50 per cent, the board recommended to shareholders to accept the bid – firstly so that everyone could enjoy the higher price, but also because being majority owned by one investor was likely to be a challenging way to operate,” he said. “Given the time of year, it’s been done fairly smoothly.”

Reed insisted there were no changes planned to MYOB’s operational strategy and highlighted its business partner initiatives as key.

After initially rejecting Manhattan’s bid as “opportunistic”, MYOB did an about face last month and announced it would support a restructured takeover offer for all shares. The vendor claimed the updated offer included an improved headline price, the majority of conditions removed and provided greater flexibility for shareholders.

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