Here’s what one of them said
One of Monitise’s shareholders have lashed out against the company’s £70m turnover by US giant Fiserv.
Paul Mumford at Cavendish Asset Management – a minority shareholder in Monitise, said: “While the dramatic tale of a once-loved tech company falling from grace makes for good headlines, it obscures the fact that this offer is far too low. While the company clearly got burned in the mobile payments market and failed to live up to its initial promise, its newer FinKIT offering is solid and has real potential.
“The main barrier to adoption so far has simply been Monitise’s history and size. So a company with the resources of Fiserv could be looking at a real bargain here – since the announcement shares have soared 23 per cent to around 2.82p, not far below the offer price of 2.9p. By the time of the deal’s completion a couple of months from now, the premium could well have become a significant discount.
“Therefore while the Directors have recommended taking the deal, I would urge all involved to review the situation – particularly other large tech companies such as IBM that work with Monitise, who will have to ask themselves whether they are happy to see such a close partner lose its independence.”
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