SiliconBeat

Vista Equity, which first proposed buying personnel software developer SumTotal Systems for $3.25 on April 3, raised its bid to $4.50 a share Wednesday to counteract the $3.80 per-share offer made by Accel-KKR three weeks later.

Under the terms of that offer, which SumTotal accepted, the company could search out “alternative proposals from third parties” for 31 days following the April 24 announcement.

SumTotal’s board advised shareholders to not to “take any action at this time with respect to” Vista’s offer, which it said it would review, “consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its financial and legal advisors,” who included RBC Capital Markets and the Wilson Sonsini law firm.

Vista’s inital offer of $3.25 per share represented a 62 percent premium to where SumTotal’s shares were trading before the deal was announced. Vista’s current offer pushes that premium up to 124 percent.