A takeover bid which values a Warrington-headquartered developer of intelligent robotic process automation software at more than £1bn has been agreed with a US private equity firm.
The board of Blue Prism Group, which also has a base in London, has reached an agreement with Vista Equity Partners.
The firm is headquartered in the US and currently has stakes in UK companies such as Advanced, Allocate and Finastra.
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As well as its bases in the UK, Blue Prism Group also has operations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The proposed deal values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Blue Prism at approximately £1.095bn on a fully diluted basis.
The announcement comes after Blue Prism confirmed separate talks with TPG Capital and Vista Equity Partners over possible takeover bids.
TPG Capital is headquartered in the US and has previously invested in the likes of Airbnb, Burger King and Spotify.
Blue Prism has also confirmed it plans to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive and has started a search for a new CEO.
The company added that it received "multiple non-binding proposals" to be acquired over the last four months.
It is expected that the deal would complete towards the end of this year of in early 2022.
Jason Kingdon, chairman and CEO of Blue Prism, said: "Blue Prism has become a leading player in the RPA sector since it was founded in 2001, when it first pioneered the technology.
"We have made excellent progress in creating a company with a robust global customer base and rapid revenue growth - rising from £6m when we listed in 2015 to an expected reported revenue of over £160m this year.
"Vista and TIBCO recognise the strength of what we have built and the exceptional products and services we provide our customers.
"This is testament to the hard work and dedication of all Blue Prism team members over the years. Combining with Vista and TIBCO will ensure we remain at the forefront of the next generation of intelligent automation: 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."
Monti Saroya, senior managing director at Vista and co-head of the Vista Flagship Fund, added: "Vista is a leading investor in robotic process automation technologies and views the acquisition of Blue Prism and combination with TIBCO as an exciting and transformational moment for the growth of enterprise-grade intelligent automation and robotic process automation.
"We are pleased to extend this offer for Blue Prism and believe the combination will yield significant synergies and market differentiation, combining the product and R&D investment of the two businesses and enabling the marketing of a broader product offering to existing and new customers."
Dan Streetman, chief executive at TIBCO, said: "Enterprise intelligent automation is becoming an integral component for driving digital transformation and the offer to acquire Blue Prism and its subsequent integration within the TIBCO Connected Intelligence platform is something that we look forward to executing for the benefit of our customers and partners.
"Together, Blue Prism and TIBCO will provide access to a suite of intelligent automation capabilities to help accelerate digital transformation."
