Apax Partners is out of the race to buy Kin & Carta after a rival put forward a higher bid for the digital technology consultancy.
The private equity group made a £203million takeover approach last October for Kin & Carta, which advises firms on technology strategies, claiming it was ‘better placed’ to help further the company’s growth.
It subsequently increased the offer to £220.3million in December, meaning investors would receive 120p per share compared to the previous proposal of 110p.
Acquisition bid: Private equity group Apax Partners made a £203million takeover approach last October for Kin & Carta, which advises firms on technology strategies
Later that month, Valtech, a digital services provider whose largest shareholder is investment firm BC Partners, came out with a 130p-per-share deal valuing the business at £239million.
Apax had until the end of trading on 8 March to lodge a higher bid, but the company refused to budge, meaning its offer has now lapsed.
Founded in 1964 by future Labour peer Robert Gavron, Kin & Carta was initially a printing business called St Ives, named after the town where it was located.
Over the following decades, it expanded to become Britain’s biggest printing firm, producing annual company reports and popular magazines like The Economist, Vogue, and Time Out.
By the time Gavron stepped away from day-to-day management, St Ives had a market value exceeding £400million.
But during the 2000s, the group began struggling as the publishing world shifted online and print journalism suffered a significant slump in revenues.
After recording its first-ever annual loss in 2009, the firm began transitioning to a more digital-focused operation when it acquired marketing and data business Occam.
St Ives exited the printing sector following the sale of its print management division to Paragon Group in 2018, the same year it was renamed Kin & Carta.
In its most recent annual results, the company blamed ‘macroeconomic challenges’ leading to longer sales cycles and more cautious spending among clients for its revenue flatlining at £195.9million.
The firm’s adjusted operating profits also declined by approximately 18 per cent to £18.5million amid more difficult trading conditions across the Americas.
Kin & Carta shares were 0.3 per cent lower at 128.2p just after midday on Monday, although they have surged by around a quarter over the past 12 months.
