Peter Karmanos Jr., the former CEO and outgoing chairman of Compuware, gave a full-throated defense Monday of the business software maker’s board of directors and growth prospects and warned that a hedge fund takeover could result in the company leaving Detroit.
Karmanos, who co-founded the firm in 1973 from a converted motel, said in an exclusive Free Press interview that Compuware is not actively seeking a buyer but has engaged with several private equity firms over the past five years to explore ways “to increase shareholder value.”
He said a hedge fund could rip apart the company and sell pieces to other firms "and I can almost guarantee it won’t be in Detroit,” he said.
(Compuware Ventures, an arm of Compuware Corporation, provided Deadline Detroit with start-up funds.)
