Credit card giant Visa has made a £198 million takeover bid for British payments company Earthport. Earthport specializes in cross-border payments with clients including Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Ripple and TransferWise.
Earthport was founded in 1997 and employs more than 200 people. The company has offices in London, New York, Miami, Dubai and Singapore.
The company’s Chairperson Sunil Sabharwal said that the firm saw the offer as an “opportunity for shareholders to realize an immediate and attractive cash value in Earthport.”
“Visa shares our vision of growth and expansion for Earthport and, as such, we believe it is a suitable and appropriate partner for our employees, partners, customers and other stakeholders,” he added.
Amanda Mesler, Chief Executive Officer of Earthport said: “Having been appointed as Earthport’s CEO in July, my focus following a full strategic review has been to rapidly implement a transformational growth strategy. Whilst I believe Earthport is well positioned to deliver the potential it has always possessed, the all-cash offer from Visa represents a very attractive and immediate return for our shareholders.”
The deal valued Earthport at a 250% premium over its average share price in the six months ended on December 24, 2018. After the deal was announced, Earthport shares sky rocketed by 270% on the London Stock Exchange.
