Exclusive: Compuware takes another shot at a sale - sources

Management software company Compuware Corp has renewed efforts to sell itself, courting not just the buyers of rival BMC Software Inc but also CA Technologies Inc and other buyout firms, several people familiar with the matter said.

Compuware rejected a $2.3 billion offer from New York-based hedge fund Elliott Management Corp in January and asked Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Allen & Company to seek a better offer. Seven months later, no higher bid has emerged.

The company however has held early talks with the private equity consortium that is in process of taking over BMC and its advisors have asked CA Technologies, as well as private equity firms that could seek to partner with another company in the software sector, to make indicative offers this month, the people said this week.

It could not be learned however whether CA Technologies would respond positively to Compuware's overtures and pursue a bid.

A consortium led by Bain Capital LLC and Golden Gate Capital LLC, which agreed in May to buy BMC for $6.9 billion, is interested in merging it with Compuware but is not likely to start full-fledged negotiations until September, some of the people said.

Compuware, CA Technologies, Bain and Golden Gate declined to comment while representatives of Goldman Sachs and Allen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Nadia Damouni, Greg Roumeliotis and Nicola Leske in New York)