It looks as though Christmas has come early for shareholders of software-as-a-service company Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX).
The Aconex share price will be one to watch on Monday after it was revealed that US-giant Oracle has tabled a takeover offer.
What was offered?
According to the release, the two companies have entered into a binding scheme implementation deed under which it is proposed that Oracle will acquire all Aconex shares for $7.80 in cash per share.
This is a 47% premium to the last close price of $5.29 and values the company at approximately $1.6 billion.
The Aconex board has unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme, subject to the independent expert's report concluding that the scheme is in the best interests of shareholders and there being no superior proposal.
Management believes that Aconex and Oracle are a natural fit and highly complementary in terms of vision, product, people and geography. Furthermore, the two companies believe that combined they will provide an end-to-end offering for project management and delivery that enables customers to effectively plan, build, and operate construction projects.
What now?
Shareholders will be invited to vote on the proposal at a meeting in March. Should shareholders vote in favour of the scheme it is expected to close by the middle of 2018.
Considering its high level of short interest, I suspect that a short squeeze could take Aconex's shares very close to the offer price today.
If that happens I would suggest investors consider taking profit and then reinvesting the proceeds back into one of the many similarly exciting tech shares on the market such as Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX).
