Vancouver, Canada-based Creo increased its bid after failing to persuade a Delaware court that PrintCafe was engaged in unusual and draconian defensive tactics to prevent a takeover by Creo.
What upset Creo was a deal earlier this month when PrintCafe announced that in order to block any rival bids, it was granting EFI an option to buy up to 2,126,574 shares of its stock and had accepted a standby credit facility of $11m plus a working capital facility that would provide up to an additional $3m.
Pre-press software provider Creo, which already owns 45% of Printcafe, said it believes its proposal offers superior value to the Printcafe stockholders. Printcafe’s shares leapt 28.3% to $3.08 in early trading this week, suggesting the market believes that the bidding will have to go higher before the issue is settled.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Printcafe Inc, which offers ERP and collaborative supply chain software, is an attractive asset as the company boasts that its software is used by more than 4,000 customers in over 8,000 facilities worldwide, including 24 of the 25 largest printing companies in North America.
However, its shares have been as high as $10.35 in the past year and the company is a long way from profitability. For the year to December 31, it reported a loss of $46.9m, down from a loss of $75.6m on revenue 11.1% higher at $46.5m.
Creo and Printcafe have always been close, which could account for the intensity of feeling generated by Printcafe’s attempt to snuggle up to another vendor. Creo, a major supplier of prepress systems, originally invested in Printcafe in February 2000, and has continued to increase its holdings. It sells Printcafe services through its direct sales force.
Source: Computerwire
