UK’s Blue Prism sees shares surge 39 per cent amid takeover discussions : CityAM

Blue Prism has been lured into takeover discussions with two US private equity firms sending its share price soaring.

Yesterday shares jumped by as much as 38.6 per cent, from lows of GBX837.0 to highs of GBX1,160.0, after the company announced it is in talks with TPG Capital and Vista Equity Partners about possible offers.

Blue Prism is a leading intelligent automation company which hires out a digital workforce to other businesses to carry out routine back-office tasks. According to Blue Prism its digital service is used by 2,000 companies worldwide.

News of the possible takeover comes as UK companies face record interest from overseas buyers who have been circling supermarket chains, pharmaceutical groups and defence companies this year.

The planned purchase of the Cambridge-based, IP company Arm by the US technology company NVIDIA was recently dubbed a serious concern by the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority, while the UK government said the deal could undermine national security.

Blue Prism, whose market value was £805m as of Friday’s close, saw its share price fall to its lowest level in four years in July, catching the interest of buyers looking to snap up British companies.

Despite the dip in share price earlier this year, Blue Prism performed strongly in the first half of 2021with revenue of £80.4m, up by 24 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

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