Symphony to buy Finnish-French firm Aldata

HELSINKI (Reuters) - U.S. firm Symphony Technology, the biggest owner of Aldata (ALD1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, offered on Thursday to buy out other shareholders, valuing the Finnish-French retail software maker at 124 million euros ($167 million).

Aldata shares were up 18 percent at 1.80 euros by 1034 GMT, close to Symphony's 1.82 euros agreed offer and against a slightly weaker Helsinki bourse general index (.OMXHPI: Quote, Profile, Research.

"It is a voluntary offer. Our board has said they support the price, so it is a friendly action," Aldata's Chief Financial Officer Thomas Hoyer told Reuters.

FIM Securities analyst Pasi Vaisanen said the offer came as expected as Symphony had already demonstrated its interest in Aldata.

"The offer price was moderately low," Vaisanen, who has a "hold" rating on the Aldata stock, said.

In addition to a 29-percewnt stake in Aldata, Symphony also owns 13 percent of Aldata's rival Lawson Software (LWSN.O: Quote, Profile, Research.

Vaisanen said Aldata could become part of Lawson later.

Hoyer said becoming part of Symphony Technology would solve Aldata's problem of not being a credible partner for the largest retailers as Aldata is a small, publicly listed firm with low net cash position

"This (offer) suits us. It is the key argument our competition has used against us. Nobody doubts the product or the team, but competition has been arguing to clients Aldata is not here to stay," Hoyer said.

Aldata's top rival is Oracle (ORCL.O: Quote, Profile, Research.

The Symphony Technology Group -- a company with over $1 billion annual revenue and about 7,000 staff -- bought the stake in Aldata in March from Mach Hitech AG (HIT.S: Quote, Profile, Research and paid 1.50 euros per share.

By Sami Torma and Terhi Kinnunen