The Six group will launch a friendly takeover bid (OPA) for Aquis at a price of 727 pence sterling per share (8.75 euros), together valued at 194 million pounds sterling (233.8 million euros), as reported this Monday by the operator of the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges.
More specifically, the boards of directors of the Six group and the Aquis group have reached agreement on the terms of a friendly cash takeover offer that Six will make to acquire the entire issued share capital and to issue Aquis.
Under the terms of the offer, each Aquis shareholder will be entitled to receive 727 pence (€8.75) per share in cash, valuing the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Aquis at approximately £207 million. sterling (£249.4 million). euros) according to the own shares methodology. Likewise, it considers an enterprise value of around £194 million (€233.8 million).
The offer brings value to Aquis shareholders with a premium of approximately 68% on the six-month volume-weighted average price of 433 pence per share (€5.21) of Aquis until November 8, 2024 (i.e. the last trading day before the start of the Offer Period) and 120 % above the closing price of 330 pence (3.97 euros) per Aquis share on November 8, 2024.
Six believes that the acquisition of Aquis constitutes “an attractive strategic opportunity which will complement its strategy to expand its securities activities beyond its domestic markets”. In this way, the combined resources and capabilities of Six and Aquis will create a pan-European exchange that encompasses the traditional primary market activities of the Exchange and MTF.
Aquis, headquartered in London, operates across several business segments, including a pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) for equities spanning 16 European markets, licensing proprietary market infrastructure technologies , a primary listing market for UK growth stocks and derived market data. markets and the stock market.
