TietoEnator and AttentiV have agreed the terms of the cash offer, and the directors of AttentiV plan to unanimously recommend that shareholders accept the offer.
Houghton Regis, UK-based AttentiV, formerly known as Lynx Financial Systems, provides software applications to banks and building societies in the UK and mainland Europe. Major customers include Britannia Building Society, NatWest and BMW Finance.
For the year ended September 30, 2004, AttentiV recorded net profit after tax of GBP 2.7m ($5.1m), down from GBP 3m ($5.6m) in the previous year, on revenue that grew 25% to GBP 32.1m ($60.2m). Some 95.5% of the company’s annual revenue came from the UK.
The proposed acquisition will be TietoEnator’s second in the UK in less than a week, following on from its acquisition of Pentec, a provider of IT applications for the paper and corrugated board industry. Espoo, Finland-based TietoEnator is looking to raise its profile in the UK, where it currently has a workforce of less than 100.
TietoEnator is also looking to boost the performance of its banking and insurance division outside the Nordic region. In November last year, the company took over the business activities of Adfincon, a subsidiary of German bank Hypo-und Vereinsbank.
Banking and insurance was the company’s third largest business segment in 2004, responsible for 17.2% of total net sales. However, the division’s annual revenue of 263m euros ($337.8m) was only up 2.7% on the previous year, whereas revenue for the company as a whole grew 11% in the year.