Consortium led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate to acquire BMC Software for $6.9 bn

A consortium led by private equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital yesterday agreed to take Texas-based software company BMC Software Inc private in a $6.9-billion deal, one of the largest leveraged buyouts so far this year, after the proposed Dell deal.

The consortium that also includes GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd, a unit of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, and Insight Venture Partners, a New York-based investment firm, have offered to pay $46.25 per share in cash, representing a premium of less than 2 per cent to BMC's Friday close of $45.42.

Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, Houston-based BMC has a "go-shop" provision that allows it to seek alternative proposals within 30 days.

The consortium is said to have topped an offer from a rival consortium comprising of KKR & Co, TPG Capital and Thomas Bravo, according to several media reports.

BMC Software was first put into play by activist hedge fund Elliott Associates, which saw its $2.3-billion bid being rejected last year by the management of BMC Software.

Since then it has amassed a 9.6-per cent stake to become the company's largest shareholder. It has now agreed to vote its shares in favor of the transaction.

Founded in 1980 by Scott Boulette, John Moores and Dan Cloer, BMC Software specialises in Business Service Management software.

It develops, markets and sells software used for multiple functions, including IT service management, data centre automation, performance management and cloud computing management.

It has over 6,000 employees and posted 2012 profit of $401 million on revenue of $2.2 billion, making it the 20th largest software company in the US.

Its international headquarters are located in Amsterdam and Singapore, while it has offices in Houston, Austin, San Jose, Boston, Tampa, Amsterdam, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Israel, and India.

''BMC believes the opportunity to become a private company will provide additional flexibility and position us to invest more strategically to drive powerful innovation and deliver cutting edge customer solutions. We look forward to working closely with all parties to complete this transaction and enter into our next chapter of growth and industry leadership,'' said Bob Beauchamp, chairman and CEO at BMC.