Rhipe agrees to Crayon takeover bid

Distributor Rhipe has agreed to be fully acquired by multinational IT consultancy Crayon for $2.50 per share, a total of $400 million.

In an ASX announcement, Rhipe said it entered into a binding scheme implementation deed with Oslo, Norway-headquartered Crayon. This comes days after Crayon submitted an indicative, non-binding offer last week.

Crayon is a software asset management and cloud optimisation services provider with revenues of approximately 19.5 billion Norwegian Krone ($3 billion). The company arrived in Australia in 2019 and acquired Oracle specialist Navicle and Winc’s software licensing operations in 2020.

The acquisition is subject to conditions customary for a transaction of this nature, including a Rhipe shareholder vote, court approval, customary regulatory approvals, approval from an independent expert, and if Rhipe has no material adverse change and no prescribed occurrences.

The shareholder vote is scheduled for September this year and Rhipe expects the acquisition will be completed in October.

Rhipe said its board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the acquisition in the absence of a superior proposal, and is also subject to approval from its independent expert on whether the deal would be in Rhipe’s best interests.

“The Rhipe board has unanimously concluded [the acquisition] represents an attractive outcome for our shareholders, partners, customers and staff. In the Rhipe board’s view, the all cash price at a significant premium to the recent VWAP trading performance reflects the inherent value of rhipe’s business operations, platform and growth strategy throughout Asia Pacific,” Rhipe chairman Gary Cox said.

“Rhipe’s partners and customers will benefit from the broader global service capability from a combined Crayon and Rhipe. In addition, Crayon’s offer is positive news for rhipe’s staff, as we believe there will be increased opportunities to develop new technologies and products to grow their careers.”

In a separate announcement, Crayon CEO Melissa Mulholland said, “This acquisition is part of our global expansion strategy as it helps to accelerate our business, especially in the Asia Pacific region.”

“This acquisition is part of our global expansion strategy as it helps to accelerate our business, especially in the Asia Pacific region.”