ECsoft SA, a newly incorporated company based in Lyon, France has made a recommended cash offer of UKP5.8m, 105 pence per share, for Unlisted Securities Market-quoted mainframe software and services company Synapse Computer Services Plc. Synapse has suffered a prolonged period of losses, but the offer saw the company’s shares jump from 77 pence to 100 pence, and ECsoft has received undertakings to accept the offer in respect of 50.2% of Synapse’s issued share capital. The offer covers all operations in the UK, US and an 18% shareholding in an Italian subsidiary, as well as Delimar’s 24.5% shareholding. ECsoft was formed for the purpose of making the offer, and it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ECsoft BV, which in turn is owned by a holding company, ECsoft NV, headquartered in the Netherlands. The holding company is neither listed nor trades on any stock exchange, and it is funded by Warburg Pincus, a Delaware-based investment company. Synapse says that ECsoft intends to build a pan-European group providing software and consultancy services, and it previously acquired a 70% stake in IDC Holdings A/S, a Scandinavian consultancy and software distributor. Synapse has cleared itself of debts after the UKP1.35m rights issue earlier this year, and it does not foresee a radical restructuring if the offer is accepted and is declared unconditional after 14 days.
