Britain’s largest software company has won a long-running dispute with Archer Capital after an Australian court dismissed the private equity fund’s claims.
Sage Group pulled out of a A$1.33 billion (then £900 million) takeover of MYOB, or Mind Your Own Business, a software company based in Victoria, in 2011 days after it was named as preferred bidder.
The business was subsequently sold to Bain Capital for A$1.2 billion, which triggered a dispute with Archer Capital and HarbourVest Partners, the owners of MYOB, which took the unusual step of pursuing Sage in court to recoup the gap between the two bids. It accused Sage, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, of deceptive conduct and breach of contract.
The federal court in Sydney ruled in Sage’s favour and the British company will attempt to recover its legal costs. “The applicants’ claims have been dismissed on all counts and Sage will be taking steps to recover costs incurred by it in defending the proceedings,” Sage said yesterday.
The takeover would have been the largest in Sage’s history and would have provided a much-needed growth engine, as MYOB was expanding at about 10 per cent a year. Sage blamed a deteriorating market hit by the eurozone crisis for its decision to pull out of the bid. The FTSE 100 fell by 12 per cent during the talks.