Fundtech Merger in Jeopardy; Cognizant to Buy CoreLogic India
The proposed S1 Corporation–Fundtech merger is in trouble. New York-based payments technology vendor ACI Worldwide said Tuesday it had submitted a bid to buy S1 Corp. for $540 million. The bid was an attempt to thwart the deal S1 had announced with Fundtech in June. ACI said it would pay $9.50 for S1’s outstanding shares and said its offer was a better one for S1 shareholders.
In a letter to S1’s board, ACI’s CEO Philip Heasley said, “We believe that our premium stock and cash proposal is both financially and strategically superior to your proposed transaction with Fundtech,” American Banker’s Bank Technology News reported. In particular, Heasley mentioned, the proposed ACI transaction would deliver “annual cost synergies that are more than twice those contemplated in the proposed S1-Fundtech merger.”
“ACI’s proposal would provide S1 shareholders with a substantial premium and immediate cash value for their investment in S1, as well as the opportunity to participate in the significant upside potential of a combined ACI-S1,” Heasley said in a press release.
“With S1, we believe that ACI would further enhance its current position as a global leader in the enterprise payments software industry as a larger, more diversified company that is strongly positioned in a wide range of markets and supported by a broader base of revenues and earnings.”
Fundtech, in response to recent inquiries, has confirmed that it is aware of the press release by ACI in which ACI made an offer to S1 to acquire all of the outstanding shares of S1and on the other terms and conditions. Fundtech has no further information at this time regarding the proposal to S1 from ACI, the company said.
In a press release, Fundtech said “the merger agreement with S1 remains in effect. The merger with S1 is subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including the receipt of shareholder approvals and regulatory approvals and Court approval in Israel. There can be no assurances that the closing conditions will be satisfied.” Fundtech said it would not comment further on the matter
In other acquisition news, Teaneck-based Cognizant has agreed to purchase CoreLogic India’s operations and absorb 4,000 employees in India. The agreement is billed as a way for Cognizant to strengthen its end-to-end mortgage services and enable new business solutions for the mortgage industry.
CoreLogic Indiaprovides software development, analytical modeling, domain back-office services and technology support to CoreLogic (Santa Ana, Calif.) and its customers in the U.S. mortgage and real estate markets.
