CAB Payments shares tumble as StoneX withdraws interest

Shares in London-listed CAB Payments dropped around 20% at the opening of trading on Thursday, following US payments firm StoneX’s withdrawal of interest in acquiring the group.

According to regulatory filings, StoneX, worth around $2.7bn, made multiple non-binding proposals to CAB to take over the business.

The first proposal was made in July, when StoneX approached CAB Payments with an offer to buy the firm at £1.15 per share.

This was rejected, prompting StoneX to return in October with an upgraded offer of £1.45 per share, valuing the firm at £368.5m.

CAB Payments said in October that it would consider the best options for the business, while StoneX, according to regulatory requirements, had until Thursday 7 November to make a firm offer or announce it does not intend to go further.

StoneX announced it does not intend to make an official offer to acquire CAB Payments on Thursday.

StoneX will be restricted from making further offers to acquire CAB Payments for six months, with certain exceptions such as agreement from the CAB board or if a third party makes an offer.

Founded in 2015, CAB Payments provides the infrastructure for business-to-business payments.

The group listed publicly on the London Stock Exchange last year, at the time bringing hope of a tech resurgence in the UK public markets.

CAB Payments debuted on the exchange in July 2023 with a share price of 310p, which has since plummeted to 89.17p as of Thursday – almost 40% less than what StoneX valued it at.

In its most recent accounts, for the year ended 31 December 2023, CAB Payments reported a pre-tax profit of £37.6m.

The firm’s previous CEO, Bhairav Trivedi, stood down from the firm in February, less than a year after its IPO.

In April, CAB Payments expanded into the European Union via a licence secured from the Dutch financial authorities.

Neeraj Kapur was confirmed as the new chief executive in June.

StoneX was founded in New York 100 years ago in 1924 as INTL FCStone.

The company has become one of America’s most prominent financial services groups, having been ranked as number 59 in the 2023 Fortune 500 list. The firm rebranded as StoneX Group in 2020.

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