Earthport Shares Rise After Visa Trumps Mastercard Offer -- Update
February 08 2019 - 4:17AM
Dow Jones News
(Adds Mastercard response, Earthport share price movement.)
--Earthport shares rose after Visa increased its takeover offer
for the cross-border payments company to GBP247 million, raising
the stakes in its bidding war with Mastercard
--Mastercard said it will consider its options and urged
Earthport shareholders to take no action over the Visa bid
--Earthport shares have risen sixfold in the last three months
as the American card giants battle over the London-listed
company
By Adam Clark
Earthport PLC (EPO.LN) shares rose Friday after Visa Inc. (V)
hiked its offer for the cross-border payments company, trumping a
competing bid from Mastercard Inc. (MA).
Visa raised its offer for Earthport to 247 million pounds
($319.5 million), or 37 pence a share. In late January, Mastercard
put forward a 33 pence-a-share offer.
Earthport's directors said they unanimously recommend the new
offer. London-based Earthport provides cross-border payment
services to banks and businesses.
Mastercard said it is considering its options, and urged
Earthport shareholders to take no action over the Visa bid.
Earthport shares at 0835 GMT were up 14% at 44.40 pence, with
investors anticipating another round of competing bids.
Visa said it has support from shareholders representing 17% of
Earthport shares, largely via U.S.-based asset manager
OppenheimerFunds. Both Visa and Mastercard's offers are conditional
on at least 75% support from Earthport shareholders.
The bidding war for Earthport was triggered in December, when
Visa made its original 30 pence-a-share offer for the company.
Shares leapt after the stock had fallen steadily over the past
three years to a low of 5 pence.
Both American companies have said they intend to keep investing
in Earthport and increasing transaction volumes on its network.
While Earthport has been consistently loss-making, it offers
services to major banks including Bank of America Corp. (BAC),
offering simplified access to local clearing operations.
Earthport has also integrated cryptocurrency Ripple into its
payments network.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com;
@AdamDowJones
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 08, 2019 04:02 ET (09:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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