Here is a paragraph from Bob Scott's Insights this morning. Interesting...
In the past, I have usually not indulged the rumors about Sage being acquired. But this time, the gossip out of the United Kingdom is very specific. And given the uncertainty surrounding the company's products and performance, it makes much more sense than in earlier rounds. A bylined article by Geoff Foster on the website, Thisismoney.co.uk, predicts the most likely scenario is a private equity buyout led by KKR & Co. (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) and Blackstone for nearly $9 billion. Foster reports ""traders are convinced that an offer will come from the private equity industry which has cash coming out of its ears."" He also cites the oft-circulated rumors of SAP and Microsoft as possible buyers, but I don't see why either company would want to complicate its product line with the multi-faceted accounting software line that Sage carries. Besides, the private equity boys have shown they have cash for playing in this market with Epicor purchased by private equity last year and Deltek ready to go private this year. This would go a long way in explaining what VARs see as a push toward direct sales by Sage. The company wanted to hike revenue to pretty it up. As usual in these sorts of matters, Sage has no comment.