Lawson Software receives $1.8b offer

NEW YORK, Mar 12 (Reuters): Lawson Software said late Friday it had received an unsolicited bid from privately held software company Infor and Golden Gate Capital to acquire all its outstanding common stock at $11.25 per share in cash. Shares of the software maker closed Friday at $11.55, after having risen 18 per cent since last Tuesday, when it had hired Barclays Capital to explore a sale of the business. The offer price from Infor and Golden Gate Capital -- a San Francisco private equity firm that holds a major stake in Infor -- would value Lawson at $1.8 billion. Lawson said in a release it is conducting talks with Infor and Golden Gate, but there is no assurance an agreement will be reached. The company said it does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached, discussions with Infor and Golden Gate have been terminated, or Lawson's board concludes an ongoing strategic review. Officials with Infor and Golden Gate Capital could not immediately be reached for comment. Citing people familiar with the process, last Tuesday said Lawson had hired Barclays in recent weeks and that its review of strategic alternatives is in the early stages and could include other options. The sources said possible bidders might include Infor, owned by Golden Gate Capital, Hewlett-Packard Co, International Business Machines Corp, Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp and SAP.