Iress shares dive after denying knowledge of PE approach
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The news: Financial software group Iress saw its share price plummet in early trading on the ASX after denying knowledge of claims that a US private equity firm has an interest in acquiring the company.
The numbers: Iress shares were trading 9.1% lower at $8.18 by 11:05am AEDT.
Iress paused trading on the ASX at 3:55pm AEDT on Tuesday, 10 minutes after the Australian Financial Review published an article claiming that San Francisco private equity outfit Thoma Bravo was "setting its sights" on the Melbourne-based group.
An ASX price query noted that Iress' share price jumped from $7.89 at 3:45pm AEDT, when the AFR article was published, to $9.06 ten minutes later. There was also an increase in the volume of shares traded, climbing from 396,235 securities traded between market open and 3:45pm AEDT, to 685,531 by 3:55pm AEDT.
The context: Late on Tuesday, after the ASX queried company's knowledge of Thoma Bravo's interest, Iress denied that it was aware of the information published in the AFR, or that it was in discussions or in receipt of a proposal in relation to a potential control transaction for the company.
The source: ASX announcement
