An unnamed company is in take-over talks with Infobank International Holdings Plc, the Langley, Berkshire, UK-based e-commerce group whose shares have been one of the most successful on LondonÆs Alternative Investment Market.
Infobank said on Friday that exploratory discussions are underway which may lead to a proposal for a merger of the company. As talks are at an early stage, it doesnÆt anticipate a further announcement for some time.
The big attraction of Infobank is InTrade, a business-to-business e-commerce package that allows companies’ employees to order goods from an approved list of suppliers from their desktop. It has signed a number of big name deals for Intrade, including one earlier this month with Marconi Plc that it calculates will be worth 25m pounds ($40.5) (CI No 3,791).
When Infobank announced its big push into the e-commerce market a year ago, its shares rose 20.8% to 43.5 pence (CI No3,548). On Friday, with the prospect of a big take-over in the offing, the shares reached 1,330 pence. With Microsoft Corp tipped as a possible buyer by some optimistic dealers, they could go much higher.
