Some may say there was a certain sense of urgency in getting this deal away given that we now know Mike Lawrie had a somewhat more challenging job offer on the table (see Lawrie to do a ‘Misys job’ on CSC?). Indeed, just a few days after it was announced that Misys and Temenos were in merger talks (see here) comes the news of the wedding banns. If investors say ‘I do’, then the two companies will combine in an all-share merger, theoretically valuing the new organisation at c.£2b. Misys investors will wield the upper hand, with almost 54% of the stock. Absent Mike Lawrie, Temenos CEO, Guy Dubois will lead the group, and Misys CFO, Stephen Wilson will look after the books.
Is this a marriage made in heaven or a marriage of convenience? Well, both Misys and Temenos have been struggling in their core banking businesses, and even Misys’ previously star-performing Treasury & Capital Markets (TCM) unit has been feeling a bit weighed down of late from the acquisition of Sophis (see here).
But Dubois’ real challenge will be to manage and grow a composite business that broadly comprises: a rump of Misys legacy core banking products; two directly competing, state of the art, bank-in-a-box products (Misys BankFusion and Temenos T24); Temenos’ own large core banking product, TCB; and of course, Misys’ TCM unit. Well, at least there isn’t a healthcare business to contend with as well!
We will have more to say as the story develops.