The $3.6 billion computer software company Altium has rejected a buyout proposal from US multinational Autodesk.
Altium on Monday entered a trading halt following the proposal and has brought Goldman Sachs on board as a defence adviser.
The offer was at $38.50 per share.
It is understood that the company’s chief executive Aram Mirkazemi, based in San Diego, and Australian-based chairman Sam Weiss, have been in talks with Autodesk for several months.
The talks are understood to be of a friendly nature.
Shares on Monday were trading at $27.21.
Altium operates in the area of development and sales of computer software for the design of electronic products.
Investors in the company on Monday said they believed that the group was worth more than $40 per share, given that it was highly strategic for a major global mechanical group to enter the computer software electronic product design market.
Autodesk is an American multinational that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education and entertainment industries with a $US62bn market value.
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