The proposed sale of business information provider Hoover’s Inc. took another twist Thursday with the withdrawal of an $8 per share bid from an investment group comprised of venture capital firm Austin Ventures and minority shareholder Marathon Partners.
The withdrawal clears the way for Murray Hill, N.J.-based D&B to acquire Hoover’s in a cash deal valued at $117 million.
Austin Ventures and Marathon Partners swooped in last week with a $130.4 million counter-offer that was seen as an attempt to block the D&B acquisition of the Austin, Texas-based Hoover.
D&B, which is looking to expand its database of business information for the research services it sells, had declined to improve its offer.
In announcing it would not improve on its standing $7 per share bid, D&B said it would try to complete the transaction under the terms of the merger agreement. Hoover’s shareholders were scheduled to vote on the D&B offer this week.
Officials at D&B could not be reached for comment at press time. Formerly Dunn & Bradstreet, D&B sells and integrates business information and statistics into products built by software makers like Oracle and SAP.