(Bloomberg) -- SNP Schneider-Neureither & Partner SE and its controlling shareholder are exploring a potential sale after the German software provider received initial takeover interest, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company and Wolfgang Marguerre, the billionaire who owns almost 64%, are working with boutique advisory firm Parkview Partners to gauge interest from potential buyers, according to the people. SNP could attract private equity firms such as Apax Partners and Bridgepoint Group Plc, as well as IT services firms like Accenture Plc and International Business Machines Corp., the people said.
Shares of SNP gained as much as 3% on Friday, touching the highest level since October 2021. They were up 1.4% at 10:13 a.m. in Frankfurt, giving the company a market value of about €369 million ($402 million). The stock is up nearly 50% over the past 12 months, propelled by SNP’s strong results since last year and an upbeat outlook for this year.
Against the backdrop of solid stock performance, 83-year-old Marguerre can now focus on finding a new owner to support the business’s future growth, the people said, adding there won’t likely be a significant premium above the current share price.
Deliberations are still at an early stage, and prospective bidders haven’t yet conducted due diligence, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. A spokesperson for SNP said it can’t comment on any plans of its shareholders. Representatives for Parkview, Bridgepoint, Accenture and IBM declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Apax couldn’t be reached for comment.
Founded in 1994, SNP provides softwares that allow customers to restructure and migrate to new IT systems. It partners with SAP SE, helping with data migration to SAP’s Hana platform. IBM and Accenture are both partners of SNP. While SNP’s current software is poised to benefit by the proliferation of Hana, it’s unclear if there is a follow-up blockbuster business software.
Marguerre, the co-founder and chairman of Swiss blood plasma separation firm Octapharma AG, first disclosed a stake in SNP in September 2020. Less than two months later, SNP’s founder and then-Chief Executive Officer Andreas Schneider-Neureither unexpectedly died at the age of 56. Marguerre then started raising his holding and eventually became the company’s largest shareholder.
--With assistance from Brody Ford.
(Updates with potential suitors in second paragraph.)
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