U.K. software company Blue Prism agrees to $1.5 billion sales

U.K. software company Blue Prism agrees to $1.5 billion sales

September 29, 2021: -British software company Blue Prism said Tuesday it has agreed on a deal to be taken over by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for £1.1 billion in cash.

Blue Prism, specializing in software robots that automate repetitive tasks, said Vista would pay each shareholder £11.25 for each share, a 35% premium to the company’s last closing price of £8.32.

It’s the latest in a string of private equity deals for publicly-listed software companies. Security firm Proofpoint agreed to a $12.3 billion sale to Thoma Bravo, while Cloudera is being bought by KKR and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Blue Prism is also among many British firms that have attracted interest from U.S. private equity investors. Supermarket chain Morrisons, infrastructure company John Laing, and aerospace firm Cobham have all targeted takeover bids in recent months.

After the acquisition, Vista said it intends to indirectly transfer Blue Prism to portfolio company TIBCO, an enterprise data firm.

“Combining with Vista and TIBCO will ensure we remain at the forefront of the next generation of intelligent automation,” said Jason Kingdon, chairman, and CEO of Blue Prism.

“We can expand the range of products we offer our customers, with TIBCO’s global footprint and technologies; and, as a privately owned company, we will also have greater access to capital to pursue new growth opportunities via product investment and other potential M&A.”

The price for Blue Prism marks a significant discount to U.S.-based rivals such as UiPath, the New York-listed company with a $28 billion market cap, and Automation Anywhere, which was last privately valued at $6.8 billion.

Shares of Blue Prism sank 2.6% Tuesday morning.

Activist investor Coast Capital had expressed concern about the company’s valuation amid speculation it was set to be taken over by private equity buyers.

“The Enterprise Value of Blue Prism PLC is currently valued at approximately three times forward revenues – an 80% to 90% discount to the company’s peers including UiPath, Appian, WorkFusion, Automation Anywhere, etc.,” the letter from Coast Capital said.

“Were a buyer to pay a premium of 100%, the share price would still be materially less than its intrinsic value, and well below where the shares were trading as recently as January 2021.”

About Us

We provide the insights on leaders who are responsible for taking their organization to new heights, all the while bringing together a group of talented individuals.

Recent Posts

Tristar Coatings | Transforming The Painting Industry With Innovation | Svetlana Melkova

There are many challenges facing the painting and coating industry today, and the pandemic just added fuel to the fire. These include raw material shortages and the globalization of the painting and coating market. Other challenges include increasing regulations due to environmental concerns and increasing manufacturing costs and raw materials. Ontario-based Tristar Coatings has been able to leverage its extensive knowledge base and highly skilled chemists to provide the solutions today’s organizations need in the time they require it most. In overarching terms, customer performance requirements can mean increasing product output whilst streamlining the process in which that product is manufactured. This can come in the form of preparing the substrate before the painting process (whether that be with physical or chemical cleaning) or actual product modifications to prevent or promote certain properties in the coating (such as adhesion, corrosion protection, film build, UV resistance, etc.), but Tristar has it all.

The Lake Companies | Making Manufacturing Easier…Forever! | Greg Lake

The Lake Companies knows that to achieve best practices, specific daily business processes must happen and be done as simply as possible, even without human effort. “That’s how we develop our ERP software products. We strive to completely transform internal business processes and revolutionize the user experience with our software,” says Greg Lake, President of The Lake Companies. “Building the support for best practices in our software allows our customers to achieve far more than they anticipated, while paving the way for growth into advanced IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies. Our Simple, Elegant, and Powerful solutions are built specifically for and seamlessly integrate with Infor’s SyteLine®(CloudSuite®) ERP.”

Cyncly | Preparing Customers for the Future | Andrea Gnoato

Cyncly was created in September of 2022 as the new brand to unite Compusoft, 2020, and their affiliate companies after the two companies merged in 2021. One of the key factors driving the decision to form Cyncly as a global brand was that consumers worldwide wanted a seamless experience when they decided to improve their homes. And because Cyncly had brought together all these industry-leading software solutions – retailers, designers, and manufacturers in kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, windows, and doors – they were in a unique position to provide their customers with the tools to do this. By connecting all these previous disparate elements, they were able to help companies using our software make their consumers’ journeys seamless and put consumers at the heart of what they do.

ArtiFlex Manufacturing | A Leader In Engineered Solutions | Erin Hoffmann

ArtiFlex Manufacturing is a premier resource for design, tooling, prototyping, automation, past model service, factory assist, and low volume tooling/production solutions. The team consists of passionate high-performance people organized in a lean fashion. The company partners with their customers to implement innovative tooling and manufacturing solutions while managing their complex programs.

Tecnomatix | Making Transformative Products | Tony Hemmelgarn

Tecnomatix® is a comprehensive portfolio of digital manufacturing solutions that helps companies to digitalize manufacturing and the process of turning innovative ideas and raw materials into transformative products. It is a software suite that enables organizations to create a digital twin of their manufacturing processes, including robots, automation, material handling systems, and people, to improve the performance of their business. The software is used in various industries such as electronics, automotive, aerospace, and heavy equipment and is currently owned by Siemens AG.