In brief: Epicor fends off takeover

At the same time the company was preparing to introduce a new version of its ERP suite to customers, the board of directors for Epicor Software was pondering what to do about a takeover bid by one of the company's largest shareholders. On October 1, Elliot Associates LP, a New York-based hedge fund that owns slightly more than 10 percent of Epicor's stock, tendered a $9.

By Staff November 1, 2008

At the same time the company was preparing to introduce a new version of its ERP suite to customers, the board of directors for Epicor Software was pondering what to do about a takeover bid by one of the company’s largest shareholders.

On October 1, Elliot Associates LP , a New York-based hedge fund that owns slightly more than 10 percent of Epicor’s stock, tendered a $9.50-per-share offer—equivalent to roughly $539 million—to acquire full ownership of the company.

On October 28, Epicor issued a statement saying its board of directors had made a unanimous decision to reject the offer.

“The Board believes the offer made by Elliott Associates would deprive stockholders from benefiting from the value associated with Epicor’s current and planned retail and ERP business software solutions—including Epicor 9, which will become generally available during the fourth quarter,” Tom Kelly, CEO of Epicor, said in a statement.