Alphyra attempt to acquire Paypoint fails

Technology firm Alphyra has failed to acquire British payments terminal operator Paypoint, four months after an earlier agreement to buy a majority stake in the company faltered.

The board of Paypoint, which opposed Alphyra's attempt to buy slightly more than half of the company in February, said yesterday that the stake had been sold instead to a group of institutions.

It also announced that it was planning a full float of the company's shares on the London Stock Exchange later this year.

The development follows the completion of an independent valuation of Paypoint.

The valuation was commissioned after Alphyra said in February that it had bought 52 per cent of Paypoint from BT Group and a unit of Électricité de France for £41.6 million (€62.4 million).

Alphyra then moved to acquire the remainder of the group, based on an overall valuation of £80 million.

This move ran into opposition from the Paypoint board, who said the initial sale had not been properly conducted according to the UK firm's articles of association. Against the backdrop of the independent valuation process, Alphyra indicated that it could raise its bid to £105 million.

It is believed, however, that the Paypoint board was seeking between £125 and £130 million for the company.

Alphyra then walked away from the deal and, as revealed yesterday, the 52 per cent stake was taken up by unnamed institutions for an undisclosed price.