Software maker Micro Focus said it had agreed a £5.1bn takeover, including debt, by Canadian rival OpenText.
The offering is £5.32 per share, a 98% premium on Micro Focus’s current share price, which has fallen 87% over the past three years.
The FTSE 250 group provides IT services for business IT issued major profit warnings in 2018 and 2019.
Micro Focus has debts of $4.4bn. OpenText said it would fund the deal by raising $4.6bn in new debt, $1.3bn in cash, and $600m from its existing revolving credit facility.
Nasdaq-listed OpenText is one of the world’s largest software providers and is used by thousands of corporate clients. It is valued at $13bn and has 14,800 employees in 35 countries.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com
