Visa sweetens bid for Earthport, trumps Mastercard

(Sharecast News) - Visa International Service Association, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Visa Inc, has upped its bid for payment solutions business Earthport, trumping a rival offer from Mastercard.Visa said on Friday that it was increasing its offer by 23% to 37p per share in cash, valuing Earthport at around £247m. It's also a 12% premium to the offer made last month by Mastercard and a 397% premium to the closing price on 24 December, which was the last business day before the initial offer was made.Earthport directors, who had previously backed the bid from Mastercard, have now recommended unanimously that shareholders accept the increased offer from Visa, which they deem to be "fair and reasonable".The company's interim chairman, Sunil Sabharwal, said: "The board of Earthport is pleased to recommend bidco's cash offer for Earthport which is at a 12% premium to the Mastercard proposal. This revised cash offer provides our shareholders with even greater value in cash for their shares."Visa said: "As a champion in the digital payments and innovation space, Visa allows businesses, governments and consumers to use the Visa network to transfer funds globally from an originating account to another account via card credentials."With Visa's capabilities, funds can be transferred into the recipient's Visa account quickly, conveniently, and securely - providing real time access to funds and the ability to utilise Visa cards to make purchases at 54 million merchant locations worldwide."Bidco believes that Earthport can complement the development of the Visa payment solutions and intends to use its resources to help Earthport grow."Mastercard put out its own statement, saying it was considering its options in light of the improved offer from Visa."Mastercard is considering its options and urges Earthport shareholders to take no action in response to the announcement by Visa," it said, adding that an announcement will be made in due course.At 0920 GMT, Earthport shares were up 14% to 44.10p.