Author: Pippa Norman

Softchoice, which listed on TSX amid pandemic boom, to go private in $1.8-billion deal

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The the open office space at Softchoice in Toronto in May, 2011.Della Rollins/The Globe and Mail

U.S. technology firm World Wide Technology Holding Co. LLC will buy Canada’s Softchoice Corp. SFTC-T in a $1.8-billion deal as it looks to grow its position in Canada, the companies said Tuesday.

World Wide Technology, a St. Louis, Mo.-based company, said it would pay $24.50 a share, which is a 14-per-cent premium to Softchoice’s closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange Monday.

The deal makes Softchoice, a Toronto-based information technology services firm, the 11th of 20 tech companies that went public on the TSX during the mid-2020 to late-2021 pandemic bubble to exit public markets. Unlike most other re-privatizations, Softchoice is going out above its issue price, with a total shareholder return of approximately 62 per cent to the company’s initial public offering of $20 a share.

The deal is expected to close at about the start of the second quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

Before Softchoice, Payfare was the latest Canadian company from the pandemic bubble to exit public markets. U.S. fintech firm Fiserv announced on Dec. 23 that it would buy the Canadian fintech in a $201.5-million deal, as part of its efforts to expand payments offerings for gig-economy workers.

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