US business information provider Thomson Reuters Corp (NYSE:TRI;TSE:TRI) launched on Wednesday its $22.00 (€18.00) a share tender offer to buy FX Alliance Inc (NYSE:FX), or FXall, a provider of electronic foreign exchange trading solutions to corporations and asset managers.
The tender offer, agreed earlier this month, will run until 14 August, unless extended, and needs to secure at least a majority of the target’s shares, the buyer said.
FXall’s largest investor Technology Crossover Ventures as well as the firm’s CEO Phil Weisberg and CFO John Cooley, controling together around 32.5% in the company, have each pledged to tender their stock to the takeover offer, subject to certain conditions, Thomson Reuters said.
The success of the bid is also conditoned on obtaining the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) clearance in the US and the approval of UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA).
FXall’s board is backing the offer, advising shareholders to accept it.
With the acquisition of this business serving a complementary client base, Thomson Reuters would be able to offer its customers integrated management of trades though the entire lifecycle, ensuring a more simplified trading process and a more efficient execution, the group’s Marketplaces managing director Abel Clark said in an earlier comment.
For its part, FXall could use Thomson Reuters’ global reach to deliver increased value to its customers and employees, its CEO has said, adding that the transaction represented a compelling exit for shareholders.
The deal, bringing together two top players in their own segments of the foreign exchange marketplace, is expected to wrap up in the third quarter of 2012.
