Lawson Software, which develops business application software for a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, is being acquired by GGC Software Holdings, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Infor, in a deal worth roughly $2 billion.

Based in St. Paul, Minn., Lawson offers software solutions that target financial management, human capital management, business intelligence, supply chain services, asset management, performance management, manufacturing operations and business project management.

Lawson serves more than 1,400 healthcare customers, ranging from hospitals to non-acute and long-term care facilities, as well as health information exchanges. Company officials estimate 72 percent of the nation’s hospitals and eight of the nation’s 10 largest integrated delivery networks use Lawson software.

The company had been reviewing its options for several months, and had received an offer on March 11 from San Francisco-based Golden Gate and Infor, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based company that offers enterprise software ranging from financial systems and resource planning to supply chain and customer relationships. Lawson officials said they conducted a market assessment and contacted other potential suitors before accepting the Golden Gate/Infor offer.

“We are pleased to have entered into a transaction that will offer Lawson stockholders an attractive valuation,” said Harry Debes, Lawson’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “After a thorough examination of the strategic alternatives available to the company as well as extensive discussions with Golden Gate and Infor, Lawson’s board unanimously concluded that this transaction is in the best interests of the company and our stockholders.”

“Lawson is a natural strategic partner for Infor, offering complementary software solutions that will extend our existing portfolio, particularly in areas such as healthcare, public sector, manufacturing and human capital management,” said Charles Phillips, Infor’s CEO. “Lawson’s and Infor’s respective best-of-class solutions will enable us to expand our commitment to our customers, delivering comprehensive ERP suites. We look forward to working closely with the Lawson team to build upon our distinct core competencies to offer an enhanced product portfolio and customer service experience.”

Under terms of the merger agreement, Lawson stockholders will receive $11.25 per share in cash – a 14 percent improvement over the company’s closing stock price on March 7, the last day before news leaked out of a potential deal. Lawson’s board of directors, who collectively own about 9 percent of the company’s outstanding shares, have agreed to vote in favor of the deal. The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of this year.

Infor was launched in 2002 in Malvern, Pa., under the name Agilisys. Two years later, the company acquired Germany-based Infor Business Solutions, changed its name to Infor Global Solutions and moved its headquarters to Alpharetta. The privately held company currently has around $2 billion in revenue and more than 8,000 employees.

On April 4, Lawson debuted Lawson Analytics for Healthcare, touting the new solution as a business intelligence platform for staffing, clinical and financial information. The company also reported that PeaceHealth, based in Bellevue, Wash., had deployed Lawson S3 Enterprise Financial Management and Supply Chain Management software to serve its medical centers, critical access hospitals, medical group clinics and laboratories in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, which see more than 53,000 inpatient admissions, 500,000 outpatient registrations and 1 million medical group encounters each year.

“To help focus resources on our mission values and vision, standardizing on a business application platform and consistent business processes across all regions was one of our key objectives,” said Stephen R. Omta, executive sponsor of cornerstone for PeaceHealth. “We chose Lawson as our technology partner because of its industry expertise and because its solutions offer the flexibility we needed to help us make this transformation successful. Internally, we referred to the Lawson implementation as the Cornerstone Project, because that’s exactly what it was – it helped us create a platform to support a series of system improvements that help us better serve our patients and communities.”