Directors at Irvine’s Epicor Software Corp., a maker of business software, on Wednesday rejected for a third time a hostile buyout bid from hedge fund Elliott Associates LP.
A day earlier, New York-based Elliott cut its offer by 20% to $7.50 a share down from its original bid of $9.50 a share.
The new price values Epicor at $440 million. Elliott already owns 10% of the company, making its offer for the remaining 90% worth about $400 million.
Elliott also owns $28.7 million in debt that converts to Epicor stock.
It said it could raise its offer for Epicor if Elliott is allowed by the board to have a closer look at the company’s books.
Epicor’s board once again issued a unanimous recommendation that shareholders reject Elliott’s offer.
“Elliott Associates has reduced the price of the highly conditional offer made to Epicor stockholders, which our board of directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be contrary to the best interests of Epicor’s stockholders,” Chief Executive Tom Kelly said in a statement.
In its previous review of the offer, directors cited market turmoil and a need to focus on Epicor’s new software product releases, among other reasons to reject the deal.
Epicor’s shares closed down 6.6% on a recent market value of about $380 million.
