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Orc’s takeover of Neonet approved by joint boards
09 March 2010
Orc’s offer of Skr19.625 ($2.70) per share in Neonet has been agreed by both boards in a merger which will create a global technology and financial trading services giant. Orc’s board claims the merger will create synergies from the sharing of technological expertise and annual cost savings of Skr130m.
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Orc
Neonet
Nasdaq OMX
After the merger the new group will comprise two parts:
technology services and transaction services.
The chief executive of Neonet, Simon Nathanson, said: “Neonet
and Orc complement each other very well.
Orc is a leader in solutions for advanced derivatives
trading and connectivity. In combination with Neonet’s strong portfolio of
equity trading and hosted technology solutions, we will create an extremely attractive
customer offering.”
The total offer is equivalent to about Skr1.278bn ($178m) on
Nasdaq OMX Stockholm’s January 22 closing prices, which represents a bid
premium of 22%.
Thomas Bill, chief executive of Orc, said: “The merger will
enable us to develop better technology, faster and at a lower cost. Following a
period of powerful growth in Orc, this transaction will ensure access to a
significantly larger potential market for the future group and thus create the
conditions for continued strong growth.”
The merged group will offer more comprehensive market
connections covering exchanges, MTFs and dark pools.
The offer will be published on March 8 and the final deadline
for acceptance is April 1.