Newry-headquartered financial software company FD Technologies confirmed on Thursday the launch of a £120 million (€145.8m) share buyback plan following the completion earlier this month of the sale of a former core part of the business.
FD Technologies sold its former First Derivatives division to US software group EPAM on December 2nd in a £236.1 million deal, two months after the agreement was announced.
The stock buyback is being carried out by way of a so-called tender offer to shareholders at a price of £19.50 per share, some 3.7 per cent higher than its closing price on Wednesday. It is anticipated that the deal will mop up close to 22 per cent of FD Technoligies’s issued share capital.
The tender offer will run between December 20th and 1pm on January 22nd, and is conditional on the programme being approved by shareholders at a general meeting on January 15th, the company said.
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The offer provides the opportunity for shareholders who wish to reduce their holdings to do so, while allowing those who do not wish to receive capital at this time to maintain their full investment in the company. Those who do not sell will see their stakes increase, as the repurchased stock is cancelled.
“The board has been considering the options to maximise shareholder value for more than 18 months, taking independent advice throughout the process,” FD Technologies said.
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The sale follows a decision by the board earlier this year to split the group’s three businesses: First Derivatives; MRP, which it merged in March with CONTENTgine, retaining a 49 per cent stake in the combined entity; and KX, which develops software databases, analytics tools, and artificial intelligence and machine learning tools and applications for various sectors.
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