Advent rejects offers for Unit4

A person familiar with the situation confirmed to Unquote that the sale process had been abandoned.

The Dutch publication De Financieele Telegraaf reported that CVC Capital Partners and Bain Capital made conditional offers, but they were below the asking price of $2.5bn. Therefore, Advent decided not to continue the talks.

Earlier this month, Bain, KKR, Insight Venture Partners and Clearlake Capital Group took part in the auction's final rounds, Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported. Bidder Thomas H Lee Partners (THL), on the other hand, left the auction. Unit4 was being marketed based on €180m EBITDA, with Morgan Stanley and Evercore advising Advent on the exit, according to the publication.

Advent declined to comment on the abandoned sale.

In 2014, Unit4 was acquired by Advent for €1.17bn. Under Advent's ownership, Unit4 has spent around €100m in acquisitions, and the company's revenues from Software-as-a-Service has grown 20% annually, Unquote understands.

Founded in 1980, Unit4 provides enterprise resource planning software, serving the private sector, public services, higher education and not-for-profit sectors. The group focuses on service-centric industries and not manufacturing, unlike some of its competitors such as Germany-based SAP and US-headquartered Oracle. Unit4 has an annual turnover of €500m according to its website. The business is based in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands.

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