Bain Capital has formally ended its takeover pursuit of Fuji Soft, conceding to rival buyout firm KKR and bringing to an end a months-long acquisition battle for the Japanese IT firm, according to a report by Reuters.
The report cites the US private equity giant as announcing on Monday that it would not proceed with a tender offer, after KKR raised its bid to JPY9,850 ($65) per share, surpassing Bain’s most recent offer of JPY9,600 in December. Bain had previously fought to acquire Fuji Soft despite board resistance, arguing that rejecting its bid was detrimental to minority shareholders.
In a statement, Bain Capital acknowledged KKR’s victory, saying it “wishes for the continued growth of the target company under the renewed governance led by the new shareholders”.
Fuji Soft, a Yokohama-based software and systems developer with a market capitalisation exceeding $4bn, saw its shares trade at KKR’s offered price of 9,850 yen on Monday.
