A top shareholder in Coupa Software Inc. said the software company should fetch at least $95 a share in a sale after getting interest from at least one potential buyer.
(Bloomberg) — A top shareholder in Coupa Software Inc. said the software company should fetch at least $95 a share in a sale after getting interest from at least one potential buyer.
HMI Capital Management said in a letter to the company’s board on Monday that Coupa is an excellent business with a great management team. HMI Capital, which owns a 4.8% stake in Coupa, said it would not support any transaction unless it was at the right price and followed a proper sales process. It said it may be a difficult time to realize the full value of the business in the current market.
“Timing is everything when it comes to successful M&A, and the standalone option simply may make more sense right now than a transaction, and certainly makes more sense than a deal at the wrong price,” said RK Mahendran, HMI Capital partner, in the letter reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Vista Equity Partners is exploring a potential acquisition of Coupa, people familiar with the matter said last month. A representative for Coupa wasn’t immediately available for comment.
HMI Capital, which said it has never written a public letter to a company before, believes that Coupa is undervalued and would reject any offer that failed to capture its potential upside. Shares in the San Mateo, California-based company closed at $64.67 in New York Friday, giving it a market value of $4.9 billion.
“Our worry is that now is a difficult time to realize the full value of Coupa’s long-term potential as a market-leader, given that Coupa’s share price is currently trading at a significantly depressed level and there are near-term sector-wide challenges in the software industry,” Mahendran said.
Coupa’s shares have fallen about 63% from a year ago amid a broader selloff in the technology sector. HMI Capital said that, based on other transactions in the sector, Coupa should yield more than $95 a share in a sale.
Coupa provides so-called business-spend management software, which helps companies track and manage the purchasing of goods and services. Customers have included Nestle SA and Groupon Inc., according to its website.
Last week, another Coupa shareholder, Meritage Group, said in a regulatory filing it had conveyed its own views on what it would believed would be a fair price for the company without disclosing additional details.
“The future for Coupa is an exciting one, and any sale price or process that fails to appropriately value Coupa’s long-term potential at the expense of seeking to rush into a deal would not be tolerated by HMI,” Mahendran said.
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