FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG said on Thursday it is in exclusive talks with Allfunds over an acquisition of the European fund trading platform. The German
Deutsche Boerse Proposes €4.7 Billion for Allfunds
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG said on Thursday it is in exclusive talks with Allfunds over an acquisition of the European fund trading platform.
The German exchange operator added in a statement that Allfunds' board unanimously agreed to start exclusive discussions based on a non-binding offer of 8.80 euros ($10.20) per Allfunds share, made up of 4.30 euros in cash and 4.30 euros in new Deutsche Boerse shares plus a dividend of 0.20 euros.
That equates to a value of approximately 4.7 billion euros. Before the offer was announced, Allfunds was valued at just under 4 billion euros on the stock exchange.
However, Deutsche Boerse emphasized that the acquisition is not yet finalised. "A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate," the operator added in a statement.
Allfunds shares, listed in Amsterdam, rose by more than 20%, to 8 euros, while Deutsche Boerse shares climbed almost 3% to 227.70 euros.
Bloomberg was the first to report on Deutsche Boerse's interest in Allfunds.
U.S. technology investor Hellman & Friedman and French bank BNP Paribas are the largest shareholders in the Anglo-Spanish company that went public in 2021.
Talks between Hellman & Friedman and the financial investor CVC had previously failed due to differences over the price, according to the Bloomberg report.
In recent years, the Swiss stock exchange SIX and the French exchange Euronext had expressed interest in acquiring Allfunds. However, Euronext withdrew its takeover bid of approximately 5.5 billion euros almost two years ago.
($1 = 0.8626 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Ludwig Burger; writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Matthias Williams, Kirsten Donovan)
