(Corrected company name "Rocket Software" rpt "Rocket Software" in the last sentence of the news item sent at 10:38 p.m. the night before).

DARMSTADT (dpa-AFX) - Silver Lake has secured a majority stake in Darmstadt-based Software AG with its takeover offer. A total of more than 63 percent of the shares had been tendered, the technology investor announced late Thursday evening. Additional shares are expected to be tendered until July 17. Silver Lake confirmed that it does not intend to conclude a domination and/or profit transfer agreement. However, Software AG, which is listed on the MDax, is to be delisted as soon as possible.

This was preceded by a tug-of-war between Silver Lake and Bain Capital. Rocket Software, a portfolio company belonging to the competing financial investor, had finally given up and reached an agreement to sell and transfer its 10.02 percent stake in Silver Lake's acquisition vehicle Mosel Bidco for 32 euros per share.

The decisive factor for Silver Lake's success was probably the support of the previous major shareholder, the Software AG Foundation. The Executive Board and Supervisory Board had also promoted the offer from the beginning. The foundation had concluded a purchase agreement with Silver Lake for its share of a good quarter of the shares.

However, the competitor forced the winning investor to make some concessions. Silver Lake had initially offered only 30 euros per share. After the counteroffer, the offer price was raised to 32 euros per share. Most recently, the investor removed the minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus one share and extended the deadline for accepting the offer by two weeks.

At Software AG's annual shareholders' meeting last month, the company's management had come down hard on shareholders for its behavior in the offer poker. Previously, several major investors had sharply criticized management's adherence to Silver Lake's offer. According to its own statements, Rocket Software would have been willing to pay 36 euros per share if the company and the rival investor had supported it./he/gl/men/stk