VeriFone (NYSE:PAY) is a curious company. It is about to operate in a duopoly that arguably should not exist - who would have thought that there would be just two providers of electronic payment solutions for credit, debit and gift card transactions? It also happens to carry a rather rich multiple.
What makes the situation even more interesting today is that its sole pure-play rival may have inadvertently done the company a major favor. If rumors and numerous press accounts are accurate, Ingenico (perhaps under some pressure from the French government) rejected a buyout bid from American conglomerate Danaher (NYSE:DHR).
The Deal That Wasn't
According to those same sources, Danaher offered $1.9 billion, or about 28 euros per share, for Ingenico. Although that deal would not have represented much of a premium to the stock's recent trading price, these shares were below 16 euros before the summer began. Then again, a $1.9 billion bid would not represent all that much of a premium in terms of multiples either. Based on analyst expectations, that deal would represent only 1.6 times sales and less than 10 times EBITDA - relatively meager given that VeriFone trades at approximately twice those multiples.
Not Just About the Money?
If reports are to be believed, it was not just the valuation of the deal that was an issue. Apparently, the French government sees Ingenico as some sort of "essential" company to France's electronics industry and is not willing to see a foreign company acquire it.
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