Sage throws spanner in MS Navision works

Wants takeover stopped

By Drew Cullen • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 28th May 2002 09:54 GMT

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Sage wants to kill Microsoft's agreed $1.3bn takeover of Navision, according to a Danish newspaper.

The accountancy software firm is preparing to a case with regulators in Denmark, where Navision is based, and it will extend this to France, Germany and the UK, Boersen reports, by way of Bloomberg.

Sage is to argue that MS will bundle Navision into bigger software suites, slash prices and kill the competition, the paper says.

It has a quote from Paul Stobart, Sage COO, who says this scenario "happened in the U.S. after Microsoft bought software maker Great Plains."

So will Sage kill the Navision deal. We think it's highly unlikely - MS does not have great market share for accountancy software in Europe, and Navision will not take into market dominance. However, Sage's move will slowdown the acquisition, and the company may be able, through the regulators, to extract some concessions as to the extent of future integration of Navision into bigger software suites. ®

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