Euronext NV has withdrawn an indicative, €5.5 billion ($5.8 billion) offer for investment-platform Allfunds Group Plc after both sides were unable to agree on the terms of a takeover.
(Bloomberg) — Euronext NV has withdrawn an indicative, €5.5 billion ($5.8 billion) offer for investment-platform Allfunds Group Plc after both sides were unable to agree on the terms of a takeover.
The board of Allfunds considered the Euronext proposal inadequate, according to a statement Wednesday. Subsequent discussions on terms with Euronext failed to produce an agreement and talks have been terminated, Allfunds said.
Allfunds shares lost as much as 17% in Amsterdam trading, while Euronext gained as much as 7.8% in Paris.
Euronext, which confirmed the decision to pull the offer, had been in discussions with private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and French bank BNP Paribas SA, who own a combined 46.4% stake in Allfunds, to obtain their support. Bloomberg previously reported that other suitors including rival stock exchange groups have also looked at the asset and could still emerge as competing bidders.
Under Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah, an ex-banker and prolific dealmaker, Euronext has expanded across Europe via acquisitions. Exchanges have been seeking to diversify beyond traditional equity trading and generate more revenue from businesses that are less correlated to market volatility, branching into areas like data and new financial technologies in recent years.
Allfunds, which offers investors access to a range of investment products in one place, was acquired by Hellman & Friedman in 2017 and grew through a series of deals, including a purchase of Credit Suisse Group AG’s InvestLab platform. It previously attracted takeover interest from German exchange group Deutsche Boerse AG, Bloomberg News reported at the time. Its private equity owners eventually opted to list Allfunds in 2021 and retain an interest.
(Updates with shares in third paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.