Vipera says Italian group considering a 7.5p per share bid

AIM-listed Vipera said on Thursday that Sella Open Fintech Platform (SOFP) is considering making a bid for the mobile payment company.

SOFP is mulling a bid of 7.5p in cash per Vipera share, which values the company at £24m and represents a premium of 20% to the mid-market price at close of business on Wednesday.

SOFP was formed by Banca Sella Holding to act as the holding company of its new fintech business, which Vipera would form "an important part" of. In addition to the proposed acquisition of Vipera and a private Italian financial software company, certain businesses and assets are being transferred to SOFP by other Gruppo Sella companies.

Banca Sella has been working with Vipera on the development of new fintech services for several months and holds 40m of the company's ordinary shares, which is an interest of around 12.5%.

"Vipera's management and know-how, which includes expertise in mobile payments, card control, coupon and loyalty programmes, digital wallets and fraud detection, are expected to make an important contribution to SOFP's ongoing business."

At 1445 GMT, Vipera shares were up 14% to 7.11p.