SunGard is in the final stages of discussions with the main shareholders of fellow financial software vendor GL TRADE to buy a majority stake in the firm.
Sungard is offering €41.70 a share for 64.51% of GL TRADE’s share capital. This offer values the whole company at €400.7 million. The main shareholders of GL TRADE include French exchange Euronext Paris, a division of the NYSE Euronext group.
The deal is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.
Sungard believes GL TRADE’s offering fits well with its existing products. It said GL TRADE’s strengths in trading solutions and market connectivity products in Europe and Asia would complement SunGard’s comparable positions in North America.?
Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs are acting as financial advisers to SunGard and Morgan Stanley is advising the main shareholders of GL TRADE.
“NYSE Euronext has supported our strategy and been a fair partner for the last fifteen years,” said Pierre Gatignol, executive chairman of GL TRADE, in a statement. “With the current consolidation of the exchange industry, GL TRADE would be better positioned to pursue its strategic objectives and serve its customers as part of SunGard, particularly given SunGard’s footprint in North America. This proposed project and the fair value of our work would reward 20 years of dedication to our clients”.