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Proposed offer by Sage for Visma
The Sage Group plc ("Sage" ; www.sage.com) intends to make an offer to acquire Visma ASA ("Visma"), based in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, for an expected enterprise value of approximately £334 million*. The proposed offer, though subject to the completion of due diligence, is recommended by Visma’s Board of Directors.
With 200,000 customers, Visma is the largest Scandinavian vendor of business management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Visma’s revenues for the year ended 31 December 2005 were approximately £166 million* (2004: £145 million*). Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation was approximately £22 million* (2004: £20m*). At 31 December 2005, Visma had gross assets of approximately £197 million*.
The proposed offer for each Visma share would be NOK125 in cash. This would represent a premium of 19% to Visma’s average share price over the last 20 trading days.
In line with Norwegian regulations, Visma has today made a similar announcement to the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Svein Ramsay Goli, Visma Chairman, comments, "Our Board believes Sage represents a solid alternative for Visma, given its long-term perspective and deep knowledge of our marketplace."
Øystein Moan, Visma CEO, adds, "As a global market leader in providing business management solutions to small and medium-sized companies, Sage will be positive for the future development of Visma. To a large extent Visma supplements Sage and there is very limited overlap in the two companies’ market positions."
Paul Walker, Sage Chief Executive, comments, "The proposed acquisition of Visma is consistent with the Sage strategy of expanding geographically into new and attractive markets. We see significant potential to build on Visma’s leading position in the Scandinavian SME market."
*All financial information calculated on the basis of £1 = NOK11.49 23.03.2006, Sage Software GmbH & Co. KG
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