LONDON (Alliance News) - MasterCard International Inc on Friday said its takeover offer for Earthport PLC has lapsed on lack of acceptances.
Earthport shares were trading 24% lower following the announcement on Friday at 36.40 pence each.
MasterCard UK Holdco Ltd, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of MasterCard Inc, had received valid acceptances in respect of a total of 1.9 million Earthport shares, representing 0.3% of the company's 652.6 million share capital.
On Wednesday last week, Mastercard urged Earthport shareholders to "take no action" on rival Visa Inc's offer for the London-listed cross-border payments firm.
Visa initially made a bid of 30 pence per share in December 2018. However, in late January, Mastercard came in with its own offer at 33p.
Visa has since upped its offer to 37 pence per share, which values Earthport at around GBP247 million fully diluted. The new figure is 12% above Mastercard's offer and 23% higher than the original Visa bid.
In addition, MasterCard confirmed on Friday that it has exercised its right to terminate the cooperation agreement entered into with Earthport with immediate effect.