(Reuters) -Australia-listed software maker Altium Ltd on Monday rejected a buyout proposal from American peer Autodesk Inc that valued the company at A$5.05 billion ($3.91 billion), saying it “significantly undervalued” its prospects.
The U.S. firm, which makes architecture designing software AutoCAD, offered Altium A$38.50 for each share, a 41.5% premium to its last closing price.
Altium’s shares soared as much as 40.6% to mark their biggest intraday gain in more than a decade before pulling back to trade 34.7% higher.
The proposal followed talks of a strategic partnership between the two companies, with Autodesk looking to integrate Altium’s electronics designing software with its engineering and manufacturing software platforms to provide its users a host of applications under one cloud network.
San Diego, California-based Altium said it “rejects the proposal at the current price”, adding it would engage with interested parties for an appropriate valuation and pursue a review of all potential strategic alternatives.
Autodesk, which is also based in California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the rejection.
($1 = 1.2923 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and Sriraj Kalluvila)
