Westpac has given up on buying Sydney-based Tyro Payments. The company has also turned down a second offer from a group led by Potentia Capital.
In October, Westpac said it was talking with Tyro about buying all of its shares.
But in a filing with the stock exchange, the bank says that after doing its research, it has decided that making an offer is not in the best interests of Westpac shareholders.
Tyro has been around since 2003 and is one of the largest Eftpos providers in Australia. Westpac was interested in the company because it would help it improve its services for small businesses and strengthen its position in merchant acquisition.
The Tyro board has turned down the Potentia Capital consortium’s second, better offer to buy the company. At A$1.60 per share, the latest offer was 26% higher than the last one. It means that Tyro is worth A$875 million as a business.
In a statement, Tyro says that the board has unanimously determined that the Revised Indicative Proposal continues to undervalue Tyro significantly and, as a result, is not in the best interests of shareholders as a whole.
But, according to the Australian Financial Review, Grok Ventures, Tyro’s biggest shareholder, has said it is willing to sell. It means that Potentia could now make its offer directly to shareholders.
