- Junior exchange founded in 2012
- Revenue has grown around 500%
- Offer at 727p vs 330p close Friday
In the latest example of UK small-cap companies being taken over, junior stockmarket operator Aquis Exchange (AQX:AIM) announced it had agreed an offer for the company from Swiss bourse operator SIX Exchange Group at more than double the current share price.
Aquis shares jumped 112% to 700p giving the firm a market cap of £157 million.
‘COMPELLING OPPORTUNITY’
SIX is offering 727p per share for the UK firm, a 120% premium to the closing price of 330p last Friday and a 68% premium to the volume-weighted average price of the last six months.
Based in Zurich, SIX operates the Swiss Exchange, which is Europe’s third-largest stock market, as well as BME (Bolsas y Mercados Españoles) which operates all stocks markets in Spain.
The Swiss firm called the acquisition ‘a compelling strategic opportunity which will complement its established growth strategy (and) strengthen its ability to serve customers in Switzerland, Spain and internationally with its reliable infrastructure services and seamless access to capital markets’.
SIX also said it expected both businesses to benefit from greater pan-European scale, driving growth opportunities beyond their respective home markets.
SHAREHOLDER SUPPORT
Since it was founded in 2012, Aquis has grown from a start-up, subscription-based exchange, to a diversified ‘multi-product challenger next-generation exchange group’, with revenue growth of almost 500% and profits of just over £5 million last year.
As well as the backing of the directors, SIX has the support of major shareholders representing 33.5% of the company’s share capital, plus non-binding letters of intent from Cannacord Genuity Asset management and Schroders Investment Management taking total backing to 51% of the shares.
