Corel: Shares Up 15% on Takeover Offer

Corel Corp. (CREL) shares closed almost 15% higher Friday, at C$11.45, after having been halted earlier in the day on news that the maker of WordPerfect and CorelDraw software received an unsolicited takeover offer.

Vector Capital Corp., which owns 69% of the stock, is proposing to buy Corel’s remaining shares at C$11 each in cash, according to a statement released on Friday. Corel had 24.5 million shares outstanding as of May 2006, valuing the transaction at about C$84 million. When trading was halted, Corel stock was at C$10.

The deal would let Vector reassume complete ownership of Corel after a public offering in April 2006. The San Francisco- based buyout firm paid about C$98 million in 2003 for the company. Corel returned to public trading after its 2006 stock sale, which raised C$104 million.