(Bloomberg) -- Basware, the Finnish software company backed by hedge fund Arrowgrass Capital Partners, surged by as much as a record 48 percent after the company confirmed a Bloomberg News report that it was exploring a sale after receiving a takeover offer.
The board is evaluating a “highly conditional” proposal that is dependent on getting financing, completion of due diligence and a recommendation from the Espoo-based company’s directors, according to a statement from Basware Friday.
The company is holding deliberations over terms including the price after receiving the offer from an unidentified suitor, people with knowledge of the matter said this week, asking not to be named because talks are private. Discussions about a sale of the company, whose software helps with purchasing, invoicing and payments, may not lead to a transaction, they said.
Shares of the software maker, which were briefly suspended in Helsinki on Friday, soared by the most ever before trading up 43 percent to 33 euros apiece. That boosted its market to 475 million euros ($539 million).
A purchase of Basware would add to a surge in software deals that have totaled $170 billion this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. IBM agreed last month to its biggest-ever acquisition when it sealed a $33 billion deal for software maker Red Hat Inc. to catch up on products for the cloud. SAP SE, Europe’s biggest technology company, agreed this week to buy Qualtrics International Inc. for $8 billion.
Arrowgrass, the hedge fund started by former Deutsche Bank AG traders Henry Kenner and Nicholas Niell, owns about 25 percent of Basware, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company has focused on expanding its cloud services to boost revenue.
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