Fuji Soft in Trading Halt After Report of Rival Offer From Bain
Fuji Soft Corp. shares were halted from trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning after Bloomberg News reported that Bain Capital is considering a rival offer for the company.
Bain's interest in Fuji Soft comes as the Japanese IT services company is already in talks with U.S. private equity firm Advent International Corp. about a potential takeover.
Advent is said to be offering around 500 billion yen ($4.6 billion) for Fuji Soft, which would represent a premium of about 30% to its current market capitalization.
Bain's offer is reportedly higher than Advent's, but it is not clear how much higher. Bain is said to be attracted to Fuji Soft's cloud computing and other IT services businesses.
Fuji Soft is a major player in the Japanese IT services market, with a wide range of customers including government agencies, financial institutions, and manufacturers.
The company has been growing rapidly in recent years, thanks to strong demand for its cloud computing services and other IT solutions.
Fuji Soft's shares have been rising in recent months on speculation of a takeover. The stock closed at 4,115 yen on Tuesday, up about 20% from its closing price on June 30.
The trading halt will remain in place until Fuji Soft releases a statement on the matter.
Bain Capital is a global private equity firm with over $100 billion in assets under management. The firm has a long history of investing in technology companies.
Advent International Corp. is a global private equity firm with over $70 billion in assets under management. The firm has a strong track record of investing in Japanese companies.
The potential takeover of Fuji Soft by Advent or Bain would be one of the largest private equity deals in Japan in recent years.
The deal would also be a sign of the growing interest in Japanese companies by global private equity firms.
Japanese companies are often seen as undervalued by global investors, and private equity firms are increasingly looking to Japan for investment opportunities.
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