News of a premium-priced buyout strapped a rocket to the share price of IT consultancy Perficient (PRFT -0.18%) on Monday. After the big all-cash deal was disclosed on Sunday, Perficient stock quickly zoomed higher the following day and closed that trading session more than 52% higher.
Three billion-dollar price tag
Perficient is being acquired by a unit of Sweden-based investment firm EQT. The buyer is to pay $76 per share of Perficient common stock, again entirely in cash. That makes for a 75% premium over Perficient's closing stock price on April 29. The enterprise value of the transaction is roughly $3 billion.
Once the deal closes, the company will be delisted from the Nasdaq and become a private business. Its current management team, including CEO Tom Hogan, will remain at the helm.
Given that juicy premium, it wasn't surprising that Perficient's board of directors unanimously approved the deal. It is now subject to ratification by the tech consultancy's shareholders in addition to approval from the relevant regulatory authorities.
The company said it expects the deal to close by the end of this year.
First-quarter declines not a surprise
Separately, Perficient reported its first-quarter results. The company saw its revenue decrease by 7% year over year to just over $215 million. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income also fell, tumbling to $11.6 million ($0.34 per share) from the year-ago profit of $26.8 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the quarter's per-share figure was $0.77 against Q1 2023's $1.04. Those numbers were broadly in line with the consensus-analyst estimates.
