SIX Group CEO rules out Allfunds bid amid M&A hunt

Allfunds

28/03/2024 09:49

(Updates MARCH 27 story with Allfunds share price move,
paragraph 3)
    By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro
       LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - SIX Group has ruled out
making a bid for fund distribution group Allfunds  ALLFG.AS 
after studying an acquisition, and will instead consider other
deals that can expand its data business or give it access to new
asset classes, its CEO Jos Dijsselhof told Reuters.
    "We don't think that's something for us," Dijsselhof said in
an interview on Wednesday when asked about Allfunds. "We've also
had a look at it, but not our cup of tea."
    The comments come two months after Reuters reported that
SIX, the operator of the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges, was
in the early stages of exploring a takeover of Amsterdam-listed
Allfunds. Allfunds shares fell 2.4% after the Reuters report
Thursday. 
    Dijsselhof said SIX is in contact with private equity firms,
including Allfunds' largest shareholder Hellman & Friedman, as
it continuously scans the market for possible acquisitions.
    The Zurich-headquartered group is less interested in
acquiring other European stock exchanges, Dijsselhof, who has
led the company since 2018, said.
    "If we could somehow get into derivatives or do something
with other asset classes, perhaps even foreign exchange...that
might be of interest," he said.
    "Probably a data acquisition would actually have a higher
priority than another exchange acquisition."
    SIX generated more than 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.66
billion) of operating income last year, with data the
second-largest revenue contributor at more than 400 million
francs.
    Dijsselhof said he hoped the group would at least double its
overall revenue, as well as that of the financial information
unit, over the next five years.
    He also said he would like to further grow its domestic
payments business, including through acquisitions.
    "Our diversified portfolio I think is a real strength of SIX
Group, which not many other exchange groups actually have," he
said.
    Unlike other market infrastructure groups, SIX's shares are
not traded publicly, meaning it has fewer options to finance
deals.
    The group could turn to its around 120 bank shareholders for
cash and even consider going public down the line if it wanted
to pursue more transformational deals, Dijsselhof said.
    However, he said there are no plans on the horizon for the
bourse operator to change its ownership structure, nor has it
been in a position where it has scrambled for money to pay for a
deal.
    SIX Group had prepared an offer for Borsa Italiana, the
operator of the Milan Stock Exchange, when its then-owner the
London Stock Exchange Group put it up for sale, Dijsselhof
revealed.
    Paris-headquartered Euronext ended up buying the asset in
2021 for more than 4 billion euros ($4.33 billion).
    
($1 = 0.9056 Swiss francs)
($1 = 0.9243 euros)

 (Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London. Editing by
Anousha Sakoui and Elaine Hardcastle, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((pablo.mayocerqueiro@thomsonreuters.com))