Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Epicor Software Corp., the supplier of business programs to Barnes & Noble Inc., rose the most in four years in U.S. trading after the second-largest shareholder offered to buy it at a 20 percent premium.

Elliott Associates LP made an unsolicited offer of $9.50 a share in cash, Epicor said in a statement. The shares, which closed at $7.89 yesterday, climbed 13 percent to $8.93 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The gain was Epicor's steepest single-day climb since April 2004.

Elliott owns 10.2 percent of the common stock and $28.7 million in convertible notes, the New York-based hedge fund said today in a regulatory filing.

``We think the main purpose of Elliott's announcement is to put EPIC in play,'' Mark Schappel, a New York-based analyst for Benchmark Co., said in a note to investors. He rates the shares ``hold'' and doesn't own any.

``I don't think that they're likely to take the deal,'' Schappel said in an interview. ``They're not in dire straits and they have plenty of cash.''

The bid will be reviewed and an answer will come in due course, Irvine, California-based Epicor said.

Epicor shares lost 24 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Jarzemsky in New York at mjarzemsky@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 1, 2008 17:12 EDT