Shares in Kofax (KFX) soared 46 per cent after its board recommended a takeover bid from US-listed enterprise software peer Lexmark. The offer price of $11.00 (739p) a share represents a chunky 46 per cent premium to Kofax's share price just prior to the news.
Kofax helps over 20,000 organisations process insurance claims, mortgage applications and other onerous paperwork. Management thinks the group's smart process applications will complement Lexmark's intelligent capture software; the combined group will boast a market-leading portfolio of capture solutions that span web portals, mobile devices and feature-rich printers.
Lexmark expects a tie-up to strengthen its foothold in the mushrooming content and process-management software market. It also predicts Kofax will boost its growth and help its perceptive software unit achieve a targeted end-2016 operating margin of 25 per cent.
Kofax's recent progress may have piqued Lexmark's interest. For instance, it just acquired Aia, whose software enables organisations to create personalised contracts, letters and documents with minimal effort. Kofax also partnered with Xerox last year to offer its TotalAgility product alongside Xerox's printing products and document management tools.
Broker Canaccord Genuity expects full-year cash profits of $47.5m, giving EPS of 36¢ (from $42.3m and 25¢ in 2014).
