Independent expert says Soprano's Whispir bid is 'neither fair nor reasonable'

The news: Whispir's board has doubled-down on calls for shareholders to reject a bid from Soprano Design, after independent expert RSM called the offer "neither fair nor reasonable" to shareholders not associated with Soprano. RSM had previously assessed the offer as not fair but reasonable, before rival bidder Pendula lobbed a premium non-binding offer for the software company last week.

The numbers: Pendula's NBIO offer of $0.57 per Whispir share is a 19% premium to Soprano's offer of $0.48, which will go to shareholders for a vote on Thursday. Soprano had a roughly 15% stake in Whispir as of November. The rival bid is also higher than RSM's fair value assessment for Whispir of $0.486 to $0.565.

The context: Whispir's board has continued to recommend shareholders reject the Soprano bid. Pendula's offer is non-binding, subject to a number of conditions and there is no guarantee it will progress to a transaction.