Reuters: Silver Lake Having Another Go at Selling Serena Software -sources

(Reuters) – Buyout firm Silver Lake is working on a sale of information technology management company Serena Software Inc, which it has tried to sell at least once before since it acquired the company for $1.2 billion in 2006, three people familiar with the matter said.

Silver Lake has asked Barclays Plc to run a new sale process in the hope that it will receive bids that are higher than those made during the last sale effort a couple of years ago, the people said this week.

Silver Lake committed $335.5 million in equity in the $1.2 billion deal to take Serena private in 2006, according to regulatory filings. The private equity firm may still struggle to sell the company for more than the value of the deal in 2006, the people said.

The unnamed sources asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. A Silver Lake spokesman had no immediate comment, while Serena and Barclays representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

San Mateo, California-based Serena provides software to companies looking to streamline their management processes. Some of its products compete with CA Inc, International Business Machines Corp and Compuware Corp.

Serena launched two restructuring plans this year to address falling profits and boost operating margins. The company reduced its workforce by 8 percent in the first quarter and 24 percent in the second quarter, for a loss of 175 employees in total. The company expects to cut operating expenses for its fiscal year 2014 by 17 percent to 19 percent compared to a year ago.

In the 12 months ending Jan. 31, 2013, Serena reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $74.4 million, down from $85.8 million over the same period a year ago. The company had total outstanding debt of $410 million as of the end of July.

Silver Lake currently owns about two-thirds of Serena, with the remainder owned primarily by Douglas Troxel, who founded Serena in 1980 and who was its chief executive officer until 1997. He still sits on Serena’s board of directors.