If no other competing offer is received within 31 days, Hertal has agreed to proceed with the buyout. However, there are analyst concerns that an offer of less than 2 euros ($2.13) per share was too low, and is taking advantage of shareholders who have been hit hard by the slump affecting the IT industry. Despite this, the deal is expected to go through, as many shareholders are predicted to cut their losses by accepting the offer.
O’Callaghan and McDonagh currently hold 25% of Riverdeep shares, and their offer needs 80% shareholder approval. One of its biggest shareholders is IBM Corp, which took a stake when Riverdeep purchased an educational division from Big Blue.
The Ireland-based company does 95% of its business in the United States, and in fiscal 2002 achieved sales of $169.3m. It provides internet and CD-Rom learning aids for US schools and online support for teachers.
Source: Computerwire
