UK software firm Micro Focus has said it has received a takeover approach, following months of speculation.
The news sent the company’s shares soaring on the stock market. Shares closed up nearly seven percent at 360.8 pence on Tuesday.
There had been rumours that the company – which is based in Berkshire and focuses on helping firm customers upgrade from legacy systems – would be either taken over by a large US rival or by a private equity firm.
The company said in a statement that it “has received a very preliminary, non-binding approach in relation to a possible offer”. However, a formal offer may not be made.
This month, Micro Focus chief executive Nigel Clifford quit after less than one year in the post. A reason was not given.
In January, Micro Focus updated its developer platform for the Cobol programming language, adding the ability to run Cobol applications on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service.
