EQT, First Kraft make offer for Fortnox, valuing it at $5.5 billion

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Sweden's Fortnox said on Monday that its largest owner First Kraft and private equity group EQT had made a joint cash offer for the accounting software firm, pushing its share price up 36% at opening.

The offer price of 90 crowns per share represents a premium of 38% compared with its closing share price on March 28, valuing the company at around 55 billion crowns ($5.51 billion).

Fortnox's board of directors unanimously recommended to its shareholders that they accept the offer, it said in a statement.

"EQT wants to support Fortnox's continued development, which will require significant and long-term investments in product development and potential M&A initiatives," EQT said in a separate statement.

Redeye analyst Fredrik Nilsson said that, even given the high level of M&A activity among Nordic software as a service (SaaS) companies in recent years, the Fortnox bid stands out.

"While Fortnox's financials have been very strong, the valuation multiples are exceptional among listed Nordic SaaS businesses, for good reasons," he said.

Fortnox, which has been looking for a new permanent chief executive since August 2024 following Tommy Eklund's decision to step down, said on Monday in a separate statement that the recruitment process will have to take into account the public offer presented today.

($1 = 9.9856 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Vera Dvorakova; Editing by Anna Ringstrom, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Joe Bavier)