Shares of Iress Ltd (ASX:IRE) rose sharply on Friday after the Australian financial technology firm confirmed that it was in talks with Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) and Thoma Bravo over a takeover offer.
Iress’ shares rose as much as 16%, before trading up 11.3% at A$9.33 by 20:29 ET (00:29 GMT). This compares to a 0.1% fall in the ASX 200.
Iress said in a statement that it had received a prior offer of A$10.50 per share in cash from Blackstone for a potential deal, although this was withdrawn.
The company said it was in “early stages of engagement” with Blackstone and Thoma Bravo over a potential offer, confirming earlier media reports. The reports said talks valued Iress at about A$1.9 billion ($1.2 billion).
The deal talks come amid growing private equity interest in Australia’s fintech firms. Earlier this week, automotive software platform developer Infomedia Ltd (ASX:IFM) agreed to a A$651 million takeover offer from a unit of TPG.
Iress had in 2021 drawn a $3 billion takeover offer from Swedish investment house EQT (ST:EQTAB), although talks had largely fallen through.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/australias-iress-surges-on-blackstone-thoma-bravo-takeover-interest-4178731
