Smartpay Holdings (ASX: SMP) has confirmed it has received two non-binding takeover offers, in response to reporting by the Australian Financial Review.
The proposals to Smartpay, which has over 40,000 businesses using its EFTPOS machines, derive from rival operator Tyro and another unnamed international strategic firm referred to as the Other Party.
These offers come several months after the Federal Government and Reserve Bank decided it would look into ending card surcharge fees, which saw Smartpay shares take a harsh tumble, declining 61.3% over the last 12 months.
The Tyro proposal would see it to “acquire 100%” of the issued ordinary shares through an arrangement for a price of NZ$1 (approximately A$0.90) per share, while the Other Party put forward it would acquire 100% of the issued ordinary shares of Smartpay.
In response, Smartpay confirmed that its board had decided to allow both parties to “conduct an initial limited period of commercial due diligence on a non-exclusive basis”.
It would then be assessing merits of the proposals and confirmed shareholders did not need to take any action at this time, as well as this statement being it's only comment on the matter at this time.
At the time of writing, Smartpay Holdings Ltd's share price was A$0.53, with a market cap of approximately NZ$128.41 million. Tyro Payments Ltd's (ASX: TYR) share price was $0.73, with a market cap of around $385.46 million.
