Thoughts on SS&C's Bid for Blue Prism

Blue Prism, which trades publicly on the London Stock Exchange, announced today that it is reviewing an offer from narrow-moat-rated SS&C Technologies of GBX 1,200 per share. The board had previously recommended shareholders accept an offer by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for GBX 1,125. We believe Blue Prism could still get a higher offer and to that end shares of Blue Prism closed at GBX 1,220. We note that SS&C has lost bidding wars in the past and we generally applaud this given the risk of overpaying. Shares of Blue Prism have been sideways in recent years and large shareholders such as Coast Capital and Hawk Ridge have complained about the Vista Equity takeout offer as being too low. We do not believe a deal if it was finalized would materially alter our fair value estimate of $85 on SS&C’s shares.