BackPolaris shares touch one-year high after buyout reports; firm denies sale
Polaris denies reports of its acquisition by Fiserv; shares rise over 14% to touch a year's high of `168
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Chennai: Polaris Financial Technology Ltd on Wednesday denied reports of its acquisition by US-based Fiserv Inc. in a regulatory filing, saying the company “was not for sale".
Shares of Polaris, an Indian software services provider, rose as much as 14.15% in intra-day trade on Wednesday to touch a year’s high of ₹ 168 on BSE.
Fiserv was conducting due diligence prior to a buyout, CNBC TV-18 news channel reported, citing unnamed sources. The deal is expected to be completed within the quarter, it said.
The report by the TV channel said that Polaris’s promoter Arun Jain, who holds 29.13% stake, will head the services and product business and join the board of Fiserv after the deal. Fiserv, which provides information technology services (IT) to the financial services industry, has been looking to expand to India.
In May 2012, Polaris restructured itself into two main services and products division.
“The restructuring exercise has been misconstrued by a certain section of stakeholders with repeated mention of possible sale," the company said in a statement. “Despite the company clarifications, these rumours continue to surface, impacting customer relationships, distracting management and employees."
Fiserv, whose shares trade on Nasdaq, posted a revenue of $4.48 billion in fiscal year 2012 and Polaris in fiscal year 2013 posted a revenue of ₹ 1,853.99 crore.
Shares of Polaris closed 14.05% higher at ₹ 164.75 apiece on BSE, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.65% to 20,986.99 points.
Note: A quote by Arun Jain of Polaris was removed from the story after he clarified that it was off the record.
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