U.S. group Lexmark International said on Tuesday it had made a 1.2 billion crown ($183.20 million) cash bid for Sweden's Readsoft that was unanimously recommended by the software company's board. Lexmark, which sells laser printers and imaging software, is offering 40.05 Swedish crowns per share in Readsoft, which supplies business software for invoicing and processing sales orders. The bid offers a premium of 118 percent over Readsoft's closing price on Monday."Readsoft is a great strategic fit, solidifying our position in the fast growing market for content and process management software solutions," Lexmark CEO and Chairman Paul Rooke said in a statement.Readsoft founders, Lars Appelstal and Jan Andersson, with 22.9 percent of shares and 41.5 percent of the votes in ReadSoft, have agreed to the bid.Shares of Readsoft rose 111 percent to 38.80 crowns in early trading.
Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing, imaging, device management, managed print services, document workflow, and also provides business process and content management solutions. Shares of LXK fell by 1.92% or $-0.83/share to $42.29. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $29.37 and as high as $47.98. On average, 1027700 shares of LXK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 874022.
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