Shares in Scandinavian IT services vendor TietoEnator have slumped on news that Nordic Capital's bid vehicle Cidron Services has sold off a 4.4% holding in its business.
TietoEnator shares closed 8.32% lower at EUR14.76 yesterday and continued to fall in morning trading after Cidron Services said it had sold a 4.4% shareholding at an average price of EUR16.50 per share. The stock was trading at EUR14.70 at lunchtime today.
Cidron is pursuing a hostile takeover bid of TietoEnator and launched a EUR15 per share, or EUR1.1 billion, offer for the vendor in April. Since then Cidron has pushed back the offer period for its bid three times. The offer period is now expected to end on 23 May.
According to press reports investors have been waiting to see if Cidron ups its offer for TietoEnator, but the move to sell the 4.4% stake implies the equity outfit is pulling back from the bid.
The TietoEnator board has repeatedly rejected the EUR15 per share offer. Furthermore, last week a group of shareholders that hold a combined 10.4% stake in TietoEnator said they will not accept the offer. This appears to have scuppered the Cidron deal which was dependant on holders of at least 90% of TietoEnator's shares accepting the deal.
In its latest statement TietoEnator has again repeated its rejection of the Cidron offer and says its board is "in active dialogue on, other alternatives to enhance shareholder value. The board will keep the market informed if a firm and actionable alternative for shareholders materialises that could bring more value for shareholders than TietoEnator's revised strategy," says the statement.
Reuters reported last week that Blackstone, Telenor and EDB Business Partner are in talks with TietoEnator about a white-knight bid. Citing "people close to the matter", the report said the consortium is considering a bid before merging the firm with EDB.
However a separate report by Reuters rules out CapGemini as a potential bidder for TietoEnator.
According to the report, Capgemini's CEO Paul Hermelin has stated that TietoEnator is too big for CapGemini to buy.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Faster payments service launching Tuesday 27th May
The final week of testing has been completed prior to the launch of the Faster Payments scheme and consumer advice has been issued.
The Faster Payments Service, which includes standing orders, is the banking industry’s response to Government concern that the UK did not have a low cost, quick and efficient electronic payment mechanism.
With just a few days to go until the launch of the new scheme, APACS, the UK payments association, has issued new materials to help customers wishing to benefit from the service, as it begins its rollout on 27th May.
APACS has produced a new, downloadable advice guide, How to use the Faster Payments Service, along with an online easy-to-use sort code checker www.canipayfaster.co.uk. Customers can input any UK sort code to check whether it is able to receive Faster Payments.
Paul Smee, APACS chief executive said: “The final part of this enormously complex project has been to test the new system in a live environment. This week hundreds of penny payments have successfully been made between the participating banks. The Service is now ready to start being rolled out to customers next Tuesday.
“Although the initial rollout will be gradual, and some customers may not be using the new service immediately, we expect that in the coming months this will ramp up to enable large numbers of customers to benefit from it. After such substantial investment by the industry we’d like, in time, to see the new Faster Payments Service being used for all of the UK’s internet, phone and standing order payments.”
Stephen Ley, a partner in Deloitte’s Enterprise Risk Services practice specialising in payments and retail banking said: “The Faster Payment system will be a challenge for banks which could lead to increased risk of fraud as it will be harder for banks to detect and block fraud in the time window available. The existing process relies, in part, on banks having sufficient time to detect suspicious transactions.
“A number of banks have opted to issue card readers which work with their customers’ debit card to create a more secure authentication and authorisation process. With over 20 million customers regularly using internet banking, increasing online safety is clearly a priority.”
When Faster Payments goes live transactions will be limited to £10,000 for immediate payments and £100,000 for standing orders, although some banks may choose lower limits. In time it is expected that these limits will be increased.
The Faster Payments Service, which includes standing orders, is the banking industry’s response to Government concern that the UK did not have a low cost, quick and efficient electronic payment mechanism.
With just a few days to go until the launch of the new scheme, APACS, the UK payments association, has issued new materials to help customers wishing to benefit from the service, as it begins its rollout on 27th May.
APACS has produced a new, downloadable advice guide, How to use the Faster Payments Service, along with an online easy-to-use sort code checker www.canipayfaster.co.uk. Customers can input any UK sort code to check whether it is able to receive Faster Payments.
Paul Smee, APACS chief executive said: “The final part of this enormously complex project has been to test the new system in a live environment. This week hundreds of penny payments have successfully been made between the participating banks. The Service is now ready to start being rolled out to customers next Tuesday.
“Although the initial rollout will be gradual, and some customers may not be using the new service immediately, we expect that in the coming months this will ramp up to enable large numbers of customers to benefit from it. After such substantial investment by the industry we’d like, in time, to see the new Faster Payments Service being used for all of the UK’s internet, phone and standing order payments.”
Stephen Ley, a partner in Deloitte’s Enterprise Risk Services practice specialising in payments and retail banking said: “The Faster Payment system will be a challenge for banks which could lead to increased risk of fraud as it will be harder for banks to detect and block fraud in the time window available. The existing process relies, in part, on banks having sufficient time to detect suspicious transactions.
“A number of banks have opted to issue card readers which work with their customers’ debit card to create a more secure authentication and authorisation process. With over 20 million customers regularly using internet banking, increasing online safety is clearly a priority.”
When Faster Payments goes live transactions will be limited to £10,000 for immediate payments and £100,000 for standing orders, although some banks may choose lower limits. In time it is expected that these limits will be increased.
Friday, May 23, 2008
FRSGlobal to announce regulatory reporting solution with Temenos T24 at global client forum
FRSGlobal, the only global supplier of regulatory risk and compliance reporting, with coverage for over 30 countries, will announce the launch of its regulatory reporting solution integrated with Temenos T24 at the annual Temenos Client Forum in Rome.
Temenos, under the terms of the current agreement, plans to develop and maintain the product interface between its T24/Global application suite and FRSGlobal’s FinancialAnalytics regulatory reporting platform. The combined solution is available to international banks and financial institutions.
The annual Temenos Client Forum brings together clients, management, alliance and business partners, industry analysts, potential clients and other special guests from around the world. This year the event is being held at the Rome Marriott Park Hotel.
FRSGlobal provides 1500 financial organisations – including 41 of the top 50 global banking institutions – with enterprise risk and regulatory compliance reporting solutions that enable them to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and mitigate risks.
Roy Barnes, Alliances Manager, FRSGlobal says “We continue to increase our market share amongst banks who are looking to improve their international reporting capability, which is becoming an even greater imperative in the current climate.
“We are particularly pleased to figure as a Referral Partner to Temenos, who are consolidating their position also as the leading supplier of core banking software solutions in several sectors of the banking industry. The partnership has been created to enhance the Temenos solution offering to banks in the tier one, multi-country market and is complimentary to their existing TFR regulatory reporting solution for the smaller institutions.”
Temenos, under the terms of the current agreement, plans to develop and maintain the product interface between its T24/Global application suite and FRSGlobal’s FinancialAnalytics regulatory reporting platform. The combined solution is available to international banks and financial institutions.
The annual Temenos Client Forum brings together clients, management, alliance and business partners, industry analysts, potential clients and other special guests from around the world. This year the event is being held at the Rome Marriott Park Hotel.
FRSGlobal provides 1500 financial organisations – including 41 of the top 50 global banking institutions – with enterprise risk and regulatory compliance reporting solutions that enable them to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and mitigate risks.
Roy Barnes, Alliances Manager, FRSGlobal says “We continue to increase our market share amongst banks who are looking to improve their international reporting capability, which is becoming an even greater imperative in the current climate.
“We are particularly pleased to figure as a Referral Partner to Temenos, who are consolidating their position also as the leading supplier of core banking software solutions in several sectors of the banking industry. The partnership has been created to enhance the Temenos solution offering to banks in the tier one, multi-country market and is complimentary to their existing TFR regulatory reporting solution for the smaller institutions.”
Friday, May 09, 2008
Building societies look to online channel
Over half of the UK's building societies are planning to introduce an online savings channel in the next year in a bid to attract and maintain customers during the current economic gloom.
According to a survey of executives at building societies by Nordic IT services outfit TietoEnator, only a quarter of building societies questioned already offer online savings services, but around 55% of respondents are planning to introduce the channel within the next 12 months.
TietoEnator says this is in direct response to the key challenge that building societies are facing of securing funding by attracting and retaining savers. Over 87%of survey respondents said introducing an online savings channel is "important", with 26% stating it is "crucial".
Half of those questioned fear savers may move to other providers in order to take advantage of services such as online savings accounts.
Commenting on the findings, Adrian Coles, Director-General, Building Society Association, says: “Building societies have always been keen to innovate in order to deliver what their members want. Online savings are no different and I'm sure we will see substantial development over the next 12 months.”
According to a survey of executives at building societies by Nordic IT services outfit TietoEnator, only a quarter of building societies questioned already offer online savings services, but around 55% of respondents are planning to introduce the channel within the next 12 months.
TietoEnator says this is in direct response to the key challenge that building societies are facing of securing funding by attracting and retaining savers. Over 87%of survey respondents said introducing an online savings channel is "important", with 26% stating it is "crucial".
Half of those questioned fear savers may move to other providers in order to take advantage of services such as online savings accounts.
Commenting on the findings, Adrian Coles, Director-General, Building Society Association, says: “Building societies have always been keen to innovate in order to deliver what their members want. Online savings are no different and I'm sure we will see substantial development over the next 12 months.”
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