(Reuters) – Fintech group ION’s vehicle Castor Bidco said on Friday it would bump its offer for credit analysis and management company Cerved Group to 2.05 billion euros ($2.44 billion), if it buys out more than 90% of the Italian company.
In the event of over 90% shareholder acceptance, Castor Bidco said it would pay 10.50 euros for each Cerved share. If the threshold is not met, the vehicle will stick to its previous offer of 10.20 euros.
Dublin-based ION, led by Italian businessman Andrea Pignataro, in March announced a 1.86 billion euro takeover offer for Cerved.
Last week, it raised the bid by 7% to nearly 2 billion euros. However, Cerved’s board had rejected the offer saying it was too low.
Cerved did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Castor Bidco’s latest offer.
ION has previously said that it was committed to supporting Cerved’s current business plan and leveraging its expertise in the software and data analysis sectors. However, it did not rule out overhauling Cerved’s operations in the future.
The tender period of the offer ends on Sept. 9, the vehicle said.
($1 = 0.8408 euros)
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)
