Acxiom shares drop after deal is canceled

little rock, ark. -- Shares in Acxiom Corp. plunged Monday after the data company announced the termination of a $2.25-billion buyout plan that would have taken it private.

The company, which in May agreed to a buyout by Silver Lake Partners and ValueAct Capital, said the private equity funds would pay $65 million in cash to terminate the agreement amid an increasingly tight credit market.

Shares of Little Rock, Ark.-based Acxiom plunged nearly 20%, or $3.90, to $15.89.

Neither ValueAct, which is also Acxiom’s largest shareholder, nor Acxiom would give a reason for the termination or respond to requests by the Associated Press for comment.

Acxiom Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Morgan said in a statement that the company would continue to operate as a publicly traded firm.

Morgan, who has led the company for 35 years, also announced he would retire after a successor had been found.

“I had been considering stepping down as the leader of Acxiom and thought the completion of our going-private transaction would be the natural time to begin an orderly transition. As Acxiom will now remain public, it is the right time for a change,” he said.

Acxiom Corp. specializes in data integration services, data warehousing and decision support services.

ValueAct and Silver Lake had offered $27.10 a share for Acxiom. Shares have traded below that number as the months passed without progress on the deal.

ValueAct has a 13.2% stake in Acxiom. The fund’s managing partner, Jeffrey Ubben, had led an earlier takeover bid that failed. Ubben was later given a seat on the Acxiom board and the buyout proposal with ValueAct and Silver Lake followed.