Iris put up for sale for £250m
Accounting software group put up for sale by private equity owners
Iris , the leading
accounting software group, has been put up for sale for a price of £250m by its
private equity owners HG Capital and LDC, the
Sunday Times
reports.
The group has been the subject of takeover speculation since the start of the
year, with Accountancy Age reporting in March that the private equity
owners had started a beauty parade of advisers to conduct the sale.
Iris is likely to attract interest from trade buyers such as Microsoft, Infor
and Sage; while private equity groups Advent and Montagu are also said to be
interested.
The announcement comes despite vehement denials of any kind of sale by Iris
chief executive Martin Leuw.
‘Iris has always been, and will continue to be, an organisation with a face,’
said Leuw. ‘Expansion will always attract attention and this can manifest itself
in speculation about the business ownership.’
Further reading:
Suitors line up to bid for Iris
Iris forecasts revenues in excess of £45m for 2007/2008