Carl Icahn Hits a Homerun with Lawson Software Takeover

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Apr 26, 2011
Carl Icahn has engineered another buyout of one of his top stock holdings.


Lawson Software (LWSN, Financial) agreed to be bought out for $11.25 per share by Golden Gate Capital, a private equity fund.


Lawson software is used for enterprise financial management, business intelligence, asset management, enterprise performance management, supply chain management, service management, manufacturing operations, business project management, and industry-tailored applications. (Yahoo)


Icahn controlled 8.7% of the outstanding shares of Lawson. The company was a top 10 holding for Icahn and made up 2.23% of his portfolio as of December 31, 2010. Icahn made the purchases in 2010 at prices of $6.65-$8.84. Icahn made profits of as much as 66% in less than one year of holding shares in the company.


At the time Icahn made the purchases, most industry experts predicted that Icahn would try to sell the company to IBM (IBM, Financial) or SAP AG as a defensive measure against the relentless pace of acquisitions made by Oracle (ORCL, Financial).


The next question is whether Icahn will now turn his attention to finding a potential suitor for Motorola (MOT) that comprises almost 35% of Icahn's portfolio.