LUXEMBOURG/NUREMBERG (dpa-AFX) - The crisis-ridden software provider Suse is about to withdraw from the stock exchange. The majority shareholder EQT wants to take over the shares it does not own and take the company off the stock exchange, as the SDax-listed company announced on Thursday evening. This marks the end of a brief guest appearance: it was only in May 2021 that the Swedish financial investor had brought the Nuremberg-based Linux specialist onto the Borse. Most recently, the company delivered weak results and the management was replaced. It was also disappointing for investors. After all, EQT is now offering them 16 euros per share, which is more than the share's last value of under 10 euros. However, EQT had taken in 30 euros per share at the time of the IPO.

Initially, the share price had also climbed until the beginning of 2022 and reached a record high of 43.60 euros, but subsequently it continued to fall.

This Friday, thanks to the takeover bid, the share price rose by almost 60 percent to 15.21 euros in early trading. Analyst Charles Brennan of U.S. investment bank Jefferies wrote that the company is bowing to the inevitable. He said the shareholder structure had increasingly become an obstacle to investing in the stock.

Financial investor EQT Private Equity wants to buy the 20.9 percent of the shares it does not yet own as part of an open takeover bid. The offer price includes an interim dividend to be paid by Suse to all shareholders. This serves to finance the offer and therefore depends on the number of securities tendered. In cash, however, the shareholders are to receive a total of 16 euros per share.

EQT then intends to take the company off the stock exchange, with the "goal of allowing Suse to fully focus on implementing a strategy of long-term value enhancement without the short-term earnings pressure of the capital market." Suse did not specify a minimum acceptance threshold.

Investors also have the option of remaining invested in the company, which will no longer be listed in the future. Jefferies expert Brennan wrote that investors interested in liquidity are more likely to tender their shares. EQT expects the takeover process to be completed in the first half of October. After that, Suse is to be merged with an unlisted company.

The company's board of directors and supervisory board supported the departure from the stock exchange, it said. "I am convinced by the strategic opportunities that will arise for us as a private company," said new CEO Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen. "This will give us the necessary scope to further grow the business and implement our strategy with the new management team."

Suse already found itself in rough waters last year when the group faced tepid demand as customers dragged their feet on purchasing decisions. The company was unable to meet its growth plans, and at the beginning of this year, management also cut its medium-term targets. The company only briefly made it into the black on a quarterly basis. In March, CEO Melissa Di Donato left the company, and in June, CFO Andy Myers also left.

Suse makes its business primarily with customized versions of the open source operating system Linux in companies and data centers. The company earns money by supporting the applications, among other things.

The newer, so-called emerging division deals mainly with technologies around cloud applications. For this purpose, Suse had acquired the company Rancher.

Suse has its operational headquarters in Nuremberg, legally the group is based in Luxembourg. The group employs more than 2000 people./men/ngu