SoftwareOne’s union with Crayon will move one step closer this afternoon as it launches its offer to Crayon shareholders.
Announced in December, SoftwareOne’s acquisition of its Nordic peer is set to create a software licensing monster with 13,000 staff.
The duo’s union– which is slated to yield runrate cost savings of 80m-100m Swiss francs – comes amid big incentive changes at Microsoft, which generates 70% of combined revenues.
A day early
SIX Swiss-listed SoftwareOne today launched its recommended voluntary share and cash offer for its slightly smaller peer – one working day ahead of schedule.
The offer price comprises NOK 69 in cash and 0.8233 newly issued shares per Crayon share.
The offer period will run until 11 April, with the transaction still set to complete in June (subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals).
SoftwareOne and Crayon’s main markets are the Nordics and DACH, respectively. Outside of EMEA, SoftwareOne has a larger North American footprint, whereas Crayon is (relatively) larger in AsiaPac.
SoftwareOne CEO Raphael Erb and Crayon CEO Melissa Mulholland will become co-CEOs of the combined firm.
“With today’s launch of the offer, we are taking another important step towards bringing SoftwareOne and Crayon together,” Erb said.
“The combination of Crayon and SoftwareOne represents a compelling strategic proposition for our shareholders, based on our complementary geographical footprints, customer bases, and service offerings,” Mulholland added.
