Fidessa has agreed to terms of a £1.5 billion all cash offer by ION Investment Group’s ION Bidco subsidiary, overturning its earlier recommended acquisition by Temenos.
ION has offered Fidessa’s shareholders £39.50 per share, including in aggregate £38.70 per share and a 79.7p dividend to be paid in June, 8.5% higher than the £35.67 bid offered by Temenos in February.
Fidessa said it has withdrawn its recommendation of the Temenos offer and has adjourned its shareholder meeting scheduled for 27 April to consider the deal, instead urging shareholders to accept the offer from ION Bidco.
“The board of Fidessa is pleased to recommend ION’s cash offer for Fidessa which is at an 8.5% premium to the Temenos proposal and provides our shareholders with even greater value in cash for their shares,” said John Hamer, chairman at Fidessa.
“ION shares our vision of driving workflow automation in the world’s financial markets and has a highly complementary business to ours: Fidessa is a leader in equities and derivatives and ION is a leader in fixed income and FX.”
Temenos said it has decided not to raise its offer for Fidessa, and has terminated its co-operation agreement with the firm.
Fidessa agreed to terms of a £1.4 billion takeover by Temenos in February, but earlier this month it announced two companies, later confirmed to be ION Investment Group and SS&C Technologies, had made counter offers higher than Temenos’ initial bid.
The UK’s Takeover Panel handed Fidessa’s suitors a 20 April deadline to either announce firm intentions to make an offer or withdraw its interest in the trading technology provider.
ION said in a statement confirming its successful bid for Fidessa that the firm represents an “attractive opportunity” to invest in a well-established business with strong equities and derivatives trading services.
“Fidessa’s leading position in equities and derivatives trading solutions complement our fixed income and FX capabilities and will enable us to serve our customers more effectively across all asset classes and accelerate innovation,” Andrea Pignataro, CEO of ION, added.