configure fails to generate Makefile

[stefins]

Hi, Running on 20.04.1-Ubuntu x86_64 GNU/Linux sudo ./configure

returns

checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /usr/bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... yes
./configure: line 2812: syntax error near unexpected token `2.4.2'
./configure: line 2812: `LT_PREREQ(2.4.2)'

thanks