Misys jumps nearly 10% on bid approach

IT group Misys has been suggested as a takeover target for a while, and the company has just announced it has indeed received a preliminary approach.

The news has sent its shares soaring 34.5p to 419p, valuing the business at £1.4bn . A US bidder was said to be favourite but there are a number of potential predators which have been mentioned previously. American groups such as Sungard, FIS and Fiserv could be interested, analyst Milan Radia at Jefferies said recently, as could Indian vendors such as Infosys or TCS. HCL or Temenos have also been suggested.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Panmure Gordon's George O'Connor. In a bit of bad timing, he said this morning:

There are a number of M&A stories doing the rounds - notably Sage to be take-over by SAP or IBM and Misys taken over by, well anyone and everyone - both of these are without merit, and for Misys in particular there is a concern that its shares will succumb to some profit taking given its recent rally.

There but for the grace of God......