The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that one of the largest shareholders in Kneat.com plans to vote against Thoma Bravo's $650-million takeover offer, saying the board has chosen a poor time to sell the software company.
The Globe's Sean Silcoff and Olivia Grandy write that PenderFund (which controls 9 per cent of Kneat.com stock) chief executive officer David Barr said he was "disappointed the board would start a strategic process in the middle of a massive sell off in SaaS companies." He said, "We're voting against." Mr. Barr added: "We think this is one of the best public software companies in Canada. We would much rather support the growth as a public company for the next five years than transfer the economics to a U.S. private equity firm."
Mr. Barr said that he believed there could be enough opposition from other shareholders to vote down the deal, which requires support from two-thirds of shareholders.
Kneat.com on Monday said it had agreed to a $6.50 a share takeover by Thoma, one of the world's largest private equity firms. Kneat.com noted the offer was a 40-per-cent premium to the closing price on May 8, the last trading day before the company revealed it was undergoing a strategic review.
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