Vista Submits Sweetened Bid For SumTotal

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Vista Equity Partners raised its all-cash bid for SumTotal Systems Inc. on Wednesday, offering $140.4 million, including debt, for the software maker.

The sweetened $4.50-per-share bid from Vista is 36 percent higher than its first offer in early April. At the time, Vista, which owns 13 percent of the company, bid $3.25 per share, or $103 million.

It's also 13 percent higher than a competing buyout offer from private-equity firm Accel-KKR, which offered $3.80 per share, or about $124 million.

The latest purchase price is more than double the premium over the stock's closing price of $2.01 on April 3, the last trading day before Vista submitted its original offer.

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

But that bid included a provision that allowed SumTotal to look for alternative proposals from other potential buyers during the next month.

SumTotal said its board is reviewing Wednesday's Vista bid.

Its shares climbed 72 percent, or 18.7 percent, to $4.58 in trading Wednesday before dropping slightly in after-hours activity.