Lawson Software said late on Friday it had received an unsolicited bid from privately held software company Infor and Golden Gate Capital to acquire all its outstanding common stock at $11.25 per share in cash.

Shares of the software maker closed on Friday at $11.55, after having risen 18 percent since Tuesday, when Reuters reported it had hired Barclays Capital to explore a sale of the business.

The offer price from Infor and Golden Gate Capital -- a San Francisco private equity firm that holds a major stake in Infor -- would value Lawson at $1.8 billion.

Lawson said in a release it is conducting talks with Infor and Golden Gate, but there is no assurance an agreement will be reached.

The company said it does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached, discussions with Infor and Golden Gate have been terminated, or Lawson's board concludes an ongoing strategic review.

Officials with Infor and Golden Gate Capital could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reuters, citing people familiar with the process, on Tuesday said Lawson had hired Barclays in recent weeks and that its review of strategic alternatives is in the early stages and could include other options.

The sources said possible bidders might include Infor, owned by Golden Gate Capital, Hewlett-Packard Co , International Business Machines Corp , Microsoft Corp , Oracle Corp and SAP .

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn owns about one-tenth of Lawson, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Ed Lane)

Software