Betaville Intelligence

RARE ALERT: Gemalto said to ... part 2

Gemalto is said to have received a fresh takeover approach from a mystery buyer.

In April, a Betaville Intelligence RARE Alert reported a mystery buyer was said to be circling the digitial security company after approaching Gemalto with a non-binding takeover proposal conditional upon due diligence.

However, since then Gemalto unveiled another profit warning, sending the company's shares significantly lower.

People claiming to be familiar with the situation said that the mystery buyer came back to Gemalto after the most recent profit warning proposing a takeover deal that would value the company at around EURO 70 a share. One person following the situation claimed a deal may be "imminent".

It's not clear who the buyer is but some sources claimed Atos, the French IT services company, is still interested in purchasing Gemalto and could be behind this latest approach. Bankers at Rothschild are said to be working with Atos.

Atos is believed to have been looking at major acquisition opportunities since the beginning of the year, according to two people following the situation.

London-listed Paysafe was pitched as a potential takeover target for Atos, said people claiming to be familiar with the matter. However, people suggested Atos had given up on that idea and is now seriously considering buying Gemalto.

It's worth noting that some followers of the payment processing industry are extremely wary of takeover rumours, especially as Atos vehemently denied a bid story earlier this year.

In March 2017, French media outlet Le Lettre de L'Expansion reported Atos's subsidiary Worldline was preparing a bid of up to EURO 8 billion for Ingenico. However, several hours later both Atos and Ingenico issued strongly worded denials...

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Date: Friday, 19 May 2017, 1:12 pm

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