BMC Software to be Bought by Bain Capital and Golden Gate?

It looks like we may have a winner in the “Who will buy BMC Software (News - Alert)?” game – well, two winners. A private equity group made up of Bain Capital LLC and Golden Gate Capital Corp is surfacing as the lead contender to buy the company for more than $6.5 billion, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke on Tuesday.

On April 22, Bain and Golden Gate made a binding bid for the business software maker, offering more than the other interested parties – namely rival consortium, KKR, TPG, and Thoma Bravo. Exactly how much any of the firms bid has not been made public, but one of the three familiar sources said that the offers came in a range of $45 to $50 per share, valuing the company at more than $6.5 billion.

The prospective deal for BMC Software is one of the hottest of the year. When it transpires, it will likely be one of the largest leveraged buyouts of 2013, up there with the deal Michael Dell (News - Alert) and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners LP struck to take Dell private for $24.4 billion. 

It's all still up in the air, though.  BMC Software hasn't made any public promises to Bain and Golden Gate, and there's still time for the rival consortium to up its offer and outbid the leading private equity. There's also a thinner possibility that the BMC Software will sell out, period, according to another source.

But the clock is ticking, and a source adds that BMC is looking to finalize an agreement in the coming week.

BMC Software, who has been under pressure from Paul Singer's activist hedge fund Elliott Associates LP to sell itself since last year, did not respond to media inquiries on the matter.

KKR, TPG, Bain, Thoma Bravo and Golden Gate have also all declined to comment.