Epicor and Activant to be acquired by Apax Partners

Apax will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding common stock of Epicor for $12.50 per share in cash, and will follow that by a merger to acquire all remaining Epicor shares at the same price. Apax is also acquiring privately held mid-market retail and wholesale distribution business Activant Solutions and says it will combine both companies "to create a global leader in business software solutions". George Klaus, Epicor chairman, president and CEO, says: "This merger is extremely positive for Epicor's customers, employees and shareholders alike. It offers great value to our current stockholders and represents an endorsement of the business strategy, products and technology leadership we have established in the market." And he adds: "With Apax, we are partnering with one of the premier investment firms in the world and one that is very much focused on growth and delivering value to the customers of its portfolio companies. "With the addition of Activant, the combined company will have over 30,000 customers, $825 million in annual revenues, and the most visionary business application software and deep vertical industry expertise in the market today." "Epicor is a true innovator and is extremely well positioned in the enterprise applications software space," comments Jason Wright, a partner at Apax Partners. "The company not only offers deep industry-specific functionality, localised and translated for all major global markets, but also unprecedented choice and flexibility through the ability to deliver its next-generation solutions on-premise, on-demand, hosted, or in the cloud," comments Jason Wright, a partner at Apax Partners. "Activant is a recognised leader in providing comprehensive ERP and point-of-sale software to the distribution and retail markets predominately in North America. Both Epicor and Activant's customers will benefit from the combined entity's increased scale, solutions portfolio and expanded service offerings," he concludes. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011.