CDC sweetens offer to acquire Onyx of Bellevue

Hong Kong-based CDC raised its bid for Onyx Software, offering as much as $92.4 million in cash and stock for the Bellevue-based maker of customer-management programs.

CDC said in a statement Tuesday that it offered Onyx shareholders $4.85 a share in cash or $5 a share in cash and stock. The all-cash bid is worth $89.6 million.

Onyx agreed on June 6 to be acquired for $88.7 million, or $4.80 a share, by M2M Holdings, a joint venture of Battery Ventures VI, based in Wellesley, Mass., and Chicago-based Thoma Cressey Equity Partners.

The bid announced Tuesday marks the third offer for Onyx from CDC, the operator of the China.com Web site. CDC in December bid as much as $50 million for a majority stake and in March said it was willing to pay as much as $4.78 a share in cash and stock. CDC sells business-management software for industries including manufacturing and home construction.

Onyx retained Piper Jaffray & Co. "to evaluate the offer and make a recommendation to the board of directors," spokesman Bob Craig said Tuesday from Sudbury, Mass.

If Onyx were to accept an acquisition offer from a competing bidder, it would have to pay M2M investors a break-up fee of $4.5 million, plus 5 percent of the competing bid, according to a regulatory filing from Onyx.

Shares of Onyx closed up 6 cents at $4.80 Tuesday. They have gained 11.6 percent this year.