Belgian software and IT services company Real Software NV has set a price of 105 euros ($113.7) for its proposed 100m-euro ($108.2m) share offering, designed to finance its plans to grow through acquisitions. The company, based in Aartselaar, outside Antwerp, derives approximately one-third of its revenues from the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market, either with its own offering or from implementing SAP’s R/3 suite. Another third is from tailored packages for business customers and the last from other proprietary software, for sectors such as intranets.
A spokesperson for Real Software said 60% of the issue is aimed at existing shareholders and holders of automatically convertible bonds, with the remaining 40% destined for institutional investors. The book-building process for the institutional tranche ended on March 9, while for existing shareholders it continues until March 15. A spokesperson for Petercam, a financial institution acting as joint-lead manager, said the price range was originally set higher, in the range 117-130 euros, but the managers subsequently decided to reduce it to 100-120, after which the institutional offer was three times oversubscribed.
Yesterday, the company’s stock was trading at around 118 euros on the Brussels stock exchange. The company spokesperson said it intends to use the funds raised for acquisitions, primarily in Europe, the US and South-East Asia. The Real Software Group (which includes various subsidiaries and joint ventures) reported a net profit of 7.6m euros ($8.3m) on revenues of 128.8m euros ($141.5m) last year, with 21% of revenues coming from the US market.
