A US private equity firm has pulled out of the race to acquire a Warrington-headquartered software developer after its £1.1bn takeover bid was beaten by a "superior" offer.
Vista Equity Partners has originally reached an agreement with Blue Prism towards the end of September having seen off competition from TPG Capital which has has previously invested in the likes of Airbnb, Burger King and Spotify.
Vistia headquartered in the US and currently has stakes in UK companies such as Advanced, Allocate and Finastra.
However, American investment giant SS&C Technologies submitted a rival bid which valued Blue Prism at £1.2bn.
That offer was then unanimously recommended to Blue Prism's shareholders by the board.
According to its website, SS&C Technologies is the world’s largest hedge fund and private equity administrator, as well as the largest mutual fund transfer agency.
In a statement, Blue Prism said: The board of Blue Prism notes that, per Note 2 of Rule 32.2 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, in the event that an offeror wishes to set aside its no increase statement it must make an announcement to this effect as soon as possible (and in any event within 4 business days after the date of the firm announcement of the competing offer).
"No such announcement has been made by Vista and, accordingly, the increased Vista offer is final and cannot be increased.
"The board of Blue Prism continues to intend to unanimously recommend that Blue Prism shareholders vote in favour of the SS&C offer at the Court Meeting and Blue Prism General Meeting (both terms having the meanings given to them in the SS&C 2.7 Announcement), each to be convened in due course."
