SumTotal Agrees To Be Bought By Accel-KKR

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — SumTotal Systems Inc., which makes employee management software, said Friday that it agreed to be purchased by private-equity firm Accel-KKR in a deal valued at about $124 million.

SumTotal shares shot up 70 cents, or 22.4 percent, to $3.83.

Under the agreement, Accel-KKR will pay $3.80 per share in cash for all outstanding SumTotal common shares. The purchase price indicates a premium of 89 percent over the stock's closing price of $2.01 on April 3. That was the last trading day before it was announced that another private-equity firm — Vista Equity Partners — offered to buy SumTotal.

Vista Equity, which already owned 13 percent of SumTotal, offered to buy the company for $3.25 per share in cash. Its offer valued the company, including Vista's stake, at $103 million.

SumTotal said that its board unanimously approved Accel-KKR's offer and recommended that SumTotal shareholders approve the deal as well.

The company said that the deal includes a provision by which it can look for alternative proposals from other potential buyers in the next 30 days.

Accel-KKR is a tech-focused firm that manages more than $1 billion in assets.