Private equity firm Thoma Bravo will spend about $2.5 billion to buy Compuware and take the software developer private. Peter Karmanos, owner of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes, founded the firm.
The software developer maintains an office in Durham as well as Charlotte.
Karmanos retired from Compuware but remained a consultant to the Detroit-based company until he was fired last year.
The companies said Tuesday that Compuware stock owners will receive about $10.92 for each share they own. That price includes mostly cash and some stock from Compuware spinoff Covisint.
It represents a premium of about 17 percent to the firm’s Friday closing price. Compuware Chairman Gurminder S. Bedi said in a statement that the deal will give shareholders an immediate cash value and provide an opportunity to complete the spinoff of Covisint, which went public in September 2013.
Compuware said its board unanimously approved the deal and recommends shareholders vote for it as well. The company’s largest shareholder, activist investor Elliott Management, has already agreed to vote in favor of the deal.
Elliott holds a 9.6 percent stake in Compuware Corp. and tried to acquire the remaining stake in the company with a $2.35 billion bid that Compuware rejected last year.
Thoma Bravo and Compuware expect their deal to close early next year.
Shares of Compuware gained more than 12 percent, or $1.17, to $10.52 in Tuesday morning trading, while broader indexes rose slightly. Covisint shares fell 8.5 percent, or 41 cents, to $4.40.
