Micro Focus boss is planning to sail on in search for more buys

MICRO FOCUS chief Kevin Loosemore wants to buy more companies despite shelling out $8.8 billion to take over Hewlett’s Packard software unit.

“We are talking to people all the time. When things come available we have to make the choice,” he said today.

“If you wanted to buy a house in Henley you might sail down the river and end up with a list of 20 houses but if they’re not on the market you can’t buy them.

“If one comes on the market you have to pounce within days, otherwise it’s gone. M&A is a bit like that”

Micro Focus has become one of Britain’s biggest tech companies, worth £5 billion, thanks to a string of acquisitions.

The FTSE-100 giant reported a 22.4% rise in earnings to $332.5 million for six months ending October.

This result was helped by the March takeover of Silicon Valley’s Serena Software.

“We like mature infrastructure software. People are obsessed with new things but we embrace the old,” Loosemore said.