Staffware finds US buyer at £123m

COMPUTER software group Staffware today agreed a £123m cash-and-shares takeover bid from Tibco, a former US subsidiary of Reuters.

The offer, worth 840p a share, sent Staffware's shares racing up 212 1/2p or 36% to 810p, their highest for more than three years but still way behind their peak of more than £46 at the peak of the tech market boom in 2000.

The deal will make a multimillionaire of Staffware chairman and chief executive John O'Connell, who owns just under 10% of the shares and will stay with the company.

'We had been looking at various options for expanding our business in the United States when Tibco approached us several weeks ago,' he said. 'Their software is totally complementary to ours and as a bigger company with plenty of cash in their pockets, it made sense to go with their takeover offer.'

The bid is 504p in cash and the rest in Tibco shares. Staffware employs 370 people worldwide and Tibco 900.