After a challenging period for the payments business,which included adamaging outage last year, Tyro is now in play,and analysts flagged the possibility of other bidders emerging.
The bid,which values the equity in Tyro at about $660 million,was pitched at a 30 per cent premium of $1.27 a share. Other members of the bidding consortium include private equity firm HarbourVest Partners,MLC and construction industry superannuation fund Cbus.
The consortium has won the conditional support of Tyro’s biggest shareholder,Mike Cannon-Brookes’ investment company Grok Ventures,which owns 12.5 per cent of Tyro. However,Grok could potentially support a higher offer if one emerged.
Potentia said Grok had entered into a deed that stipulates that it would support Potentia’s bid at the current price,subject to some conditions. Under the terms of the deed,Grok would not take any action under a competing proposal unless it was more than 25c a share higher than the current bid.
Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew McLeod told investors there had been a recent trend of consolidation among firms providing payment services to businesses,with large global players buying up smaller firms to bolster growth.
McLeod has previously argued Tyro looked “inexpensive” compared with recent transactions in the sector.
“We think this could be a catalyst for other strategic bidders to consider,” McLeod said in a note.