Reuters: Mergers News: Itaú Unibanco may drop plan to buy out Redecard

Reuters: Mergers News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Itaú Unibanco may drop plan to buy out Redecard Apr 30th 2012, 15:56 Mon Apr 30, 2012 11:56am EDT * Itaú Unibanco wants to delist Redecard, take it private * May quit plan if new appraisal calls for sweetened offer * Deal is Brazil's largest announced merger this year SAO PAULO, April 30 (Reuters) - Itaú Unibanco, Brazil's largest financial conglomerate by market value, will drop a plan to take over card payment processor Redecard should a new appraisal call for a sweetened offer, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Lazard Asset Management, which owns more than 10 percent of Redecard, requested a new appraisal to value the card payment processor. Should that appraisal occur and stipulate a tender higher than its 35-reais-a-share proposal, Itaú Unibanco will drop its bid, the filing said. On Feb. 7, Itaú Unibanco pledged to spend as much as $6.81 billion to buy out Redecard in a bid to protect the latter's position in an increasingly competitive industry. The deal is so far the largest announced mergers and acquisitions transaction in Brazil this year. Under the plan, Itaú Unibanco sought to buy the 49.99 percent of Redecard it does not already own in a first step to taking the company private. The offer represented a 9.9 percent premium over Redecard's closing price of 31.84 reais on Feb. 6. Redecard shares fell 1.7 percent to 31.82 reais on Monday. Preferred shares of Itaú fell 0.4 percent to 29.59 reais, extending the stock's 19.6 percent loss this year. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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