Actuate boosts tender offer price after buyout bid

Software company Actuate Corp. on Thursday increased the price it will pay for its own shares in a tender offer, after receiving an unsolicited buyout bid.

The company said it received an unsolicited proposal to buy all of its outstanding stock for $3.50 per share, a price the stock hasn't seen since Oct. 2. Actuate did not identify its suitor, but said its board determined the offer is not in the best interest of shareholders.

It is now offering to repurchase shares for $3 to $3.50, up from its prior offer of $2.20 to $2.60. The tender offer is being done as a modified Dutch auction, in which holders wishing to tender their shares select the price they will accept from within the $3-$3.50 range.

The tenders of shareholders who had accepted the prior price range are no longer valid, Actuate said. Those who do not resubmit under the new price range will have their shares returned to them.

The deadline for the new offer price is midnight EST on Dec. 18.

Actuate shares gained 63 cents, or 28 percent, to $2.90 in aftermarket electronic trading when the new offer was announced, after closing at $2.27 in Thursday's regular session. The stock, which traded as high as $7.97 in January, closed down 70.8 percent for the year.