MYOB $329 million takeover offer

Duncan Riley — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:16:52 +0000

Australia financial software and service company MYOB has has received a $329 million ($487.2m AUD) takeover offer. Private equity group Archer Capital is offering $1.15 AUD/ share for MYOB, after an offer of $1.90 AUD/ share in January was rejected.

The new takeover offer, made with the support of HarbourVest is conditional on support from the MYOB board and acceptances of 50.1%. The offer will be upped to $1.25 AUD/ share if acceptances reach 90%.

Existing shareholders Guinness Peat Group (16%), Colonial First State Global Asset Management (13%) and Schroders Investment Management (10%) have all indicated support for the takeover offer, but the MYOB board is yet to issue a formal response. Company founder Craig Winkler holds 30% of stock.

MYOB has a presence in seven countries, and MYOB software is sold as FirstEdge and AccountEdge in the United States.

MYOB Acquires SmartyHost

Duncan Riley — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:18:27 +0000

Accounting software maker MYOB has acquired SmartyHost, one of Australia’s better known web hosting companies. The acquisition is the second MYOB has made in the space, having acquired Ilisys earlier in 2008.

SmartyHost is a well regarded Australian hosting company, and has a strong presence in the SME market, the core market for MYOB.

MYOB CEO Tim Reed said in a statement that MYOB aims to “web enable Australian small businesses. We want to make the first step – establishing a website – more appealing to more business owners. We also plan to help business owners leverage the internet to ‘rewire’ their customer and supplier interactions and other core business processes.”

The SME sector in Australia is still under-represented online with over 50% of companies not having a web presence. It’s a logical step for MYOB to move into this sector, although the company still lacks an online accounting presence at a time SaaS and online accounting packages are starting to take off. Perhaps they’ll be able to leverage some of the talent they’ve acquired to start moving in that direction.

Financials of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The Inquisitr » myob

MYOB $329 million takeover offer

MYOB Acquires SmartyHost