Earthport PLC (LON:EPO) shares more than trebled on Thursday morning after the payments group agreed to be bought out by US giant Visa for almost £200mln.
Visa has offered 30p a share – four times Earthport’s closing price of 7.45p on Monday afternoon.
READ: Earthport reports revenue rise despite 'challenging year'
The London-listed company’s board said the offer was “fair and reasonable” and recommended that shareholders accept it.
“Whilst I believe Earthport is well positioned to deliver the potential it has always possessed, the all-cash offer from Visa represents a very attractive and immediate return for our shareholders,” said Earthport’s chief executive Amanda Mesler.
Earthport offers Visa greater exposure to the growing cross-border payments sector, with the volume of transactions involving parties from two or more countries rising 10% last year.
The company, which counts Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Japan Post Bank among its clients, has seen its stock fall by almost a third this year amid depending losses and expenses. Last month, it told the market that a “fundamental” change in strategy was required.
The stock surged, climbing 280% to 28.3p, just shy of the 30p offer price.