NCR Corp proposes £1.28 billion in cash to buy Cardtronics plc

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) said on Monday that it placed a bid for £1.28 billion in cash to buy Cardtronics plc (NASDAQ: CATM) that is currently set to be acquired by Apollo Global (private equity firm) and Hudson Executive Capital (investment firm).

Cardtronics opened roughly 2.5% down on Monday but regained the entire intraday loss in the next hour. At £30.24 per share, the stock has recovered sharply from a low of £11.77 per share in the first week of April 2020 when the impact of COVID-19 crisis was at its peak. The price action should come in handy if you are interested in investing.

NCR wants to buy Cardtronics outstanding shares at £28.82/piece

NCR Corporation said that it wanted to buy Cardtronics’ outstanding shares at £28.82 a piece that represents a roughly 5% discount on the per-share price at which the ATM operator closed the regular session on Friday.

In comparison, Hudson Executive and Apollo offered a lower £25.86 per share – a bid that Cardtronics accepted in December. Including net debt, their proposal stipulated a value of £1.70 billion. Cardtronics, Hudson Executive, and Apollo are yet to make an official statement in response to NCR’s bid on Monday.

In separate news from the United States, Global Infrastructure Partners said it will acquire Signature Aviation for £3.43 billion.

According to Refinitiv, Hudson Executive currently boasts a 19.44% stake in Cardtronics, that makes it the Houston-based company’s largest investor. Other prominent investors include Vanguard Group and Blackrock Institutional Trust.

D.A. Davidson analysts’ comments on the news on Monday

According to CEO Michael Hayford of NCR, following the merger, the two companies will be able to bring their bank and retail customers on the same platform. As per D.A. Davidson analysts:

“We believe a transaction of this nature could add sizable incremental recurring revenue, afford it (NCR) with notable synergy/accretion opportunities and represent a springboard for NCR’s ATMaaS (ATM as a Service) strategy.”

NCR Corp was reported more than 2.5% down in premarket trading on Monday, but its shares jumped back on market open. The Atlanta-based software, managed and professional services, consulting and technology company performed slightly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of close to 6%.

At the time of writing, NCR Corp has a market cap of £3.48 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 11.61.