£1.5bn FIGHT FOR TECH DEVELOPER

ONE of Europe’s largest software companies has won the fight for Fidessa with a dramatic late bid.

Dublin-based Ion snatched the British software firm from under the nose of Swiss rival Temenos with a last-minute £1.5bn bid yesterday.

Temenos had already agreed a £1.4bn deal with FTSE 250 Fidessa, although the bidding was thrown back open when Ion made its interest known.

A third potential bidder, SS&C Technologies, was also interested in bidding, but did not lodge a formal offer. Ion’s deal includes a final and special dividend of 79.7p a share for the year ending December 31.

The takeover watchdog had set a deadline of 5pm for all parties to submit formal bids. Ion won the battle for Fidessa, which makes financial software for City firms, with just hours to spare.

Fidessa’s shares were up by 1.4pc, or 55p, at 4005p when markets closed yesterday.

Fidessa’s shareholders were due to meet in a week to decide on the Temenos deal. Ion’s deal will be put to shareholders in the coming weeks. Ion, founded in 1999 by chief executive Andrea Pignataro, also bought a majority stake in data firm Dealogic last year.