Shareholders in Irish e-payments group Alphyra are expected to decide today to shelve plans to sell up to €150 million worth of shares in advance of its planned merger with AIM-listed cash machine operator Cardpoint.
Alphyra is planning to merge with Cardpoint to form a new company called Payzone, which will be listed on the stock market.
As part of that process, Alphyra's management team and private equity investor Balderton Capital were due to sell 50 per cent of their stakes in the Irish payments group to institutional investors.
This was expected to net about €100 million for Balderton and €50 million for the management team, led by chief executive John Nagle.
The shareholders, however, are believed to have revised this decision in recent days in light of the current volatility of stock markets.
Payzone is due to begin trading in London on December 6th. Alphyra's shareholders will own 59 per cent of Payzone after the merger. Cardpoint is the biggest operator of ATMs in Britain and its shareholders approved the deal earlier this month. Mr Nagle will head the merged business and it will be based in Dublin.
It is understood that Mr Nagle and Balderton will be free to sell up to half their stake at any time. But the Alphyra shareholders have agreed to hold on to the other half of their shares for six months.
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