Perceptive Software sale triggers layoffs in Lenexa, though no one says how many

An undisclosed number of software workers in Lenexa lost their jobs Friday following Lexmark International’s sale of its Perceptive Software operations.

On July 10 Lexmark, based in Kentucky, sold Perceptive Software and two other business software companies, Kofax Ltd. and ReadSoft. The buyer was Thoma Bravo, a private investment firm with offices in San Francisco and Chicago.

Thoma Bravo combined the other two companies under the Kofax name. It sent its newly acquired Perceptive Software operations, including those in Lenexa, to another Thoma Bravo company called Hyland Software Inc., which is based in the Cleveland area.

Hyland spokeswoman Alexa Marinos said the company acquired Perceptive’s product line and 700 Perceptive employees, including 300 in Lenexa. She acknowledged that the move included “employee separations” but declined to say how many were let go or how many worked for Perceptive Software in Lenexa before the cuts.

“I can confirm that Hyland acquired the majority of Lexmark Enterprise Software employees in Lenexa,” Marinos said in an email.

The Lenexa job cuts were part of a 10 percent layoff at Perceptive Software and Kofax combined, according to an email Kofax CEO Reynolds C. Bish sent to employees of those companies on July 10.

“Unfortunately, despite our enthusiasm for the future, we still have challenges, including the need to rightsize both the Perceptive and Kofax businesses. After collaborating with Hyland’s executive management team, we have today initiated a significant reduction in force across all functional areas in both businesses on a global basis,” Bish’s email said.

Bish did not include jobs or layoff totals in his email.

A Kofax spokeswoman did not respond to inquiries Monday.

Several days later, the Kofax human resources department sent an email to the employees being laid off, including those in Lenexa. It notified them that personnel would not be meeting individually with exiting workers because of “the number of employees affected by the redundancy.”

At one point, Perceptive Software had more than 700 employees at its made-to-order offices on Renner Road. The payroll had declined to about 500 by April 2016.

Hyland intends to stay in the Renner Road offices, Marinos said.

Bish had told employees in his email that the layoff decisions came “after thoughtful consideration” of several factors including “the amount of debt both Hyland and Kofax have incurred in the leveraged buyout of the businesses from Lexmark.”

The email told employees that both companies expect to be “solidly profitable” but that the workforce cuts would reduce the risks that other factors hurt profits unexpectedly.

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Perceptive Software sale triggers layoffs in Lenexa, though no one says how many."