SI Corporation's (Nasdaq: SONE) board of directors yesterday rejected the offer to purchase made a week earlier by ACI Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: ACIW), and said that it stood by the commitment to merge with Fundtech Ltd. (Nasdaq: FNDT; TASE: FNDT).
ACI is not ready to concede. In a statement following the rejection of its offer, it said, "Today's announcement from S1 does not change our strong belief that ACI's $9.50 per share cash and stock proposal is superior to the Fundtech transaction… ACI remains ready and willing to complete this transaction, and we are prepared to do what is necessary to make this happen."
S1 chairman John Spiegel said in a statement, "The S1 Board gave careful consideration to each of the proposed terms and conditions of ACI's proposal. In the end, the Board determined that ACI's proposal is not in the best interests of S1 and its stockholders. We believe that continuing to execute on our long-term business plan, which includes the business combination with Fundtech, will best help us maximize stockholder value and achieve our strategic goals."
Fundtech bucked Nasdaq yesterday, rising 1.8%. The share price rose 0.3% at the opening today to $19.10, giving a market cap of $287 million, but fell 0.8% on the TASE to NIS 27.89.
In a separate development, Fundtech reported higher revenue and profit for the second quarter of 2011. Revenue rose 16% to $40.5 million from $34.8 million for the corresponding quarter of 2010. GAAP-based net profit fell, partly because of costs related to the S1 merger, to $2.1 million ($0.13 per share) for the second quarter from $2.4 million for the corresponding quarter. However, non-GAAP net profit rose to $4.2 million ($0.27 per share) from $3.5 million for the corresponding quarter. The company beat the analysts'
Fundtech CEO Reuven BenMenachem said,"The second quarter was another strong quarter for us as we posted record revenues exceeding our revenue guidance and meeting the high end of our non-GAAP earnings per share guidance."
Fundtech raised its full-year guidance to $160-163 million, citing the weakness of the dollar against the Swiss franc. However, it cut its GAAP earnings per share guidance to $0.71-0.81 from $0.76-0.86 and reiterated its non-GAAP earnings per share guidance of $1.03-1.13, citing the costs of the S1 merger.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 3, 2011
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