The bidding battle for Fidessa has recommenced with ION Trading saying this morning that it has made a proposal to acquire Fidessa for £38.70 per share in cash. The proposal tops the offer of £35.67 per share made by Temenos on 21 February, but it is only a proposal and ION Trading must make a formal offer to be in the running by 5pm today, the deadline for competing offers set by the UK Takeover Panel. Fidessa’s third suitor, SS&C, has pulled out of the bidding battle.
The ION Trading proposal values Fidessa at about £1.5 billion and entitles shareholders to receive and retain a final dividend and special dividend for the year to the end of December 2017 amounting to 79.7p per share.
ION Trading, which is backed by US private equity firm Carlyle, was on our list of counter-bidders when Temenos made its offer for Fidessa. The company, a provider of trading software, is a prolific acquirer and a good fit with the electronic trading focus of Fidessa’s services and solutions. Less so Temenos, a Swiss provider of banking software with limited experience in electronic trading systems.
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