SiliconBeat

Versant, the Redwood City developer of data management software, has a new investor who thinks the company’s shares “do not adequately reflect the potential value of the Company’s underlying business and assets.”

Discovery Group, a merchant banker based in Chicago, disclosed having acquired 203,382 shares of Versant, for which it paid $3,048,859, or an average of $14.99 per share, according to the 13D filing Discovery made Wednesday.

Versant announced a stock repurchase program in December under which it could buy back $5 million of its own shares, and spent $1.1 million in its quarter ended Jan. 31 doing so, buying 76,692 shares for an average per-share price of $14.29.

Versant may want to take note: Discovery is currently waging a proxy battle with the board of Tier Technologies, the Virginia supplier of direct electronic payment tools, accusing the company’s current management of an “excessive level of corporate overhead” and of “hoarding cash”.

Both sides have been able to claim some victories in their war for shareholder votes, with the shareholder advisory firm, RiskMetrics, backing the board’s postion, while two other  firms — Glass Lewis and PROXY Governance — are supporting Discovery. Tier’s shareholder showdown is scheduled to take place April 11.