Buyout offer for Powerlan units reduced

CPS Group Investments has reduced its offer for one of the two Powerlan (ASX:PWR) business units it is bidding for due to the strong Australian dollar.

Powerlan said the offer for its IMX trading system software development arm has been cut to $4.9 million from $5.3 million.

The bid price for its Microsoft Office-based software division, ConverterTechnology, remains the same at $3.5 million.

Powerlan said it had been told the bid had been altered the bid due to “certain economic changes” - including the rising exchange rate – that have taken place since the initial $8.8 million offer was made in March.

In a market statement, Powerlan said it had decided to accept the revised offer subject to an independent expert's evaluation.

Directors acknowledged the changed conditions, and said the sale would reduce the company's debt by $8.4 million and annual interest payments by about $1 million.

The bid also has a clause granting Powerlan a share in the profit from any on-sale of the units within 12 months.

If the deal goes through, Powerlan would be left with its Clarity telecom operational management software company.

The CPS bid is not the only offer for a technology company that has been modified this month due to the strong Australian dollar. Macquarie Capital and the Carlyle Group on Friday raised their joint bid for traffic camera technology company Redflex, and struck the terms that would have reduced the price if the AUD was trading high above the USD at time of transaction.

PWR shares stayed flat on Monday at $0.024.