Private equity firm Ironbridge Capital has forged a deal to purchase the embattled Bravura Solutions (Bravura) for $272 million all-cash offer.
The deal valued Sydney-based Bravura at $1.73 a share and has been unanimously recommended by its board.
Bravura, the administrator of over 18 million pension, life insurance and investment accounts, traded for the first time in almost a month yesterday after the offer was made public.
Its shares rose two cents or 1.4 per cent to $1.48 at yesterday's close of trading. The shares topped $3 in January 2007.
Ironbridge however will not acquire the shares of Bravura chief executive and managing director Iain Dunstan and chief executive and operations director Simon Woodfull.
The directors' have a combined 43.5 million in stock rendered inaccessible because they bought it using margin loans provided by the collapsed Lift Capital.
Lift went into voluntary administration on April 10 after its margin lending business model backfired.
Woodfull and Dunstan's shares have since been in the custody of investment bank Merrill Lynch, Lift's controversial secured creditor.
Under the Ironbridge proposal, the directors' will exchange their stake in Bravura for a 30.57 per cent cash and stock holding within the new company, permitted Merrill Lynch releases custody of the shares.
Woodfull and Dunstan would also continue to be executives in the new entity.
However, it remained unclear by Bravura, Lift's administrators and Merrill Lynch whether the shares would be given back to Woodfull and Dunstan.
The deal will also be subject to regulatory approvals and confirmation that Bravura's full-year earnings before interest and tax will be a minimum of $23.5 million.
Merrill Lynch did not respond to InvestorDaily's calls.
Ironbridge managing partner Neil Broekhuizen and director Matt McLellan were unavailable for comment.
