Lexington, KY – After the recent announcement that Lexmark’s competitor to buy Swedish tech firm ReadSoft had backed down, Lexmark announced Monday morning that has reached a deal with 98 percent of ReadSoft’s shareholders.
Lexmark had announced offers of $182 million, $194 million, $224 million and $248 million in attempts to purchase the publically traded ReadSoft since May. Within a month of the first three offers, rival suitor Hyland UK has stepped in to offer more for the outstanding shares of ReadSoft. Hyland announced last month that it would back out following Lexmark’s acquisition of majority voting control including the shares that had belonged to ReadSoft’s founder.
Lexmark reports a final offer price of 57 Swedish Krona, around $251 million as the final cost for the company. Now that Lexmark owns more than 90 percent of the shares in the company, it will look to force the acquisition of the outstanding minority shares.
“ReadSoft is a strong strategic fit for Lexmark, enabling Perceptive Software to significantly grow its software presence with additional document process automation capabilities and expand its footprint in Europe," said Paul Rooke, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer. "We are pleased with the results from the offer and we can now look forward to taking the next steps toward integration of the company."
ReadSoft operates in 70 countries and has more than 12,000 customers worldwide including BASF, Siemens, Bosch, HSBC, ING, Lego and John Deere. The company has 625 employees and reported revenue of $117 million in 2013.