(Reuters) -Australian payment terminals firm Tyro Payments Ltd on Tuesday confirmed it was approached by several parties including lender Westpac Banking Corp for a potential takeover and that it was in preliminary talks with selected parties.
The Australian Financial Review reported on Monday that Westpac had roped in investment bankers from JP Morgan to advise it on a bid for Tyro and that Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank were also interested.
As of Monday’s close, Tyro had a market value of A$807.6 million ($507.9 million).
Tyro did not name other parties that had approached it, but said none of the approaches were “sufficiently definite or advanced to warrant further disclosure at this time” and that they were non-binding and highly conditional.
Westpac separately confirmed preliminary discussions to buy Tyro and said a potential deal would strengthen its small business proposition.
($1 = 1.5901 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
