Fiserv to buy UK mobile payments pioneer Monitise for 70 mln stg

U.S. financial technology provider Fiserv said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy British financial services technology firm Monitise Plc for about 70 million pounds ($88.72 million).

AIM-listed Monetise, worth about 2 billion pounds at its peak in early 2014, blazed a trail by linking banks and mobile operators to build a business capable of handling billions of dollars in mobile payments, purchases and money transfers.

But the company, founded in 2003, then faced increased competition from free mobile payment systems offered by the likes of Alphabet Inc and Apple Inc.

In 2015, Monitise put itself up for sale, blaming changes in its business model for a string of revenue warnings, but failed to find a buyer.

Tuesday's offer of 2.9 pence in cash per Monitise share, represents a premium of 26 percent to the share's close of 2.30 pence on Monday.

Monitise, which has been advised by Canaccord Genuity on the deal, consider the terms to be "fair and reasonable".

($1 = 0.7890 pounds)

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