US Technology Giants Eye Monitise Takeover

A number of American technology companies are examining takeover bids for Monitise (LSE: MONI.L - news) , one of the UK's most prominent manufacturers of mobile banking software.

Sky News understands that FIS, a global behemoth in the payment technologies sector, is one of several potential suitors for Monitise, which put itself up for sale last month.

Monitise executives are understood to have visited prospective buyers in the US last week as the British company seeks additional capital to pursue expansion plans.

Other possible bidders which are said to have expressed a tentative interest include Oracle (NYSE: ORCL - news) and IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) , although all of the takeover discussions are said to be at an early stage.

Monitise is due to update the City on its financial performance on Tuesday, when it is also expected to provide investors with some insight into the progress of talks with potential buyers.

In a statement last month, the company said it still aimed to make a pre-tax profit in the 2016 financial year but warned that revenues would be lower than anticipated for the third time in quick succession.

"In light of recent share price weakness, shareholder feedback and industry developments, Monitise announces that it is commencing a review of all options open to the company to maximise value for shareholders," it said.

"The board believes that the company has an exciting future as an independent business, however it recognises that there may be other business which could leverage Monitise's capabilities for digital commerce enablement to significantly accelerate the growth of the business and take maximum advantage of the growth opportunities in the market today."

Monitise, once a stock market darling as it looked set to exploit the explosion in mobile banking and payments applications, has seen its share price plummet amid a string of disappointing statements about revenue expectations.

It brought in blue-chip names including Mastercard and Santander as shareholders last year and now says it has a total user count of 82m, with a target of 200m users by the end of 2018.

However, its transition to a recurring revenue model - as opposed to one based on licences - has pitted it against giants such as Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) and Google (Xetra: A0B7FY - news) , which have moved into the mobile payments space.

IBM and FIS have existing relationships with Monitise, and have been previously touted by City analysts as potential acquirers of the whole company.

A Monitise spokesman declined to comment on Monday.