FD Technologies shares shoot up 26pc following takeover approach to Newry-based data analytics firm
Shares of FD Technologies soared in London and Dublin after the news emerged on Wednesday. In Dublin, the shares rose 26pc to €27.60, close to the premium the bid represents to the stock's previous closing price.
In London, shares were up 21pc to £23.30 each.
In a stock market update, the board of the Northern Ireland-based business said they had received a number of non-binding proposals in relation to a possible cash offer by funds managed by TA Associates for the entire capital of the business.
It was founded by the late Brian Conlon with a £5,000 loan from Newry Credit Union
'The most recent proposal was received from TA Associates on March 24, 2025, in relation to a possible cash offer of £24.50 per FD Technologies share,' the company said.
At that price, the board of FD Technologies 'would be minded to recommend' it to shareholders, subject to the agreement of other customary terms and conditions.
The US investor has until June 4 to make a formal bid. A potential sale comes just months after FD Technologies sold its First Derivative business to EPAM Systems for £230m (€274.1m).
That deal was announced in October last year.
What is now FD Technologies was founded in 1996 by the late Brian Conlon, financed initially with a £5,000 loan from Newry Credit Union. The business is now headed by CEO Seamus Keating.
It provides consulting services for capital markets, and has staff based in a string of global centres from London to Singapore, as well as its base in Newry
The sale of the First Derivative subsidiary had left FD Technologies to focus on its data analytics and AI business, KX.
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FD Technologies is being advised on the process by Rothschild, JP Morgan Cazenove and Investec Bank with legal advice from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling.
FD Technologies is one of Northern Ireland's most successful indigenous businesses and a significant employer on both sides of the Border.
The late Brian Conlon founded the business in 1996 when Newry was only just starting to emerge from the effects of the Troubles. He grew it into a global business with offices and customers around the world.
Mr Conlon had studied accountancy at Queen's University in Belfast before training as an accountant with KPMG.
He moved to London in the late 1980s to work with US investment bank Morgan Stanley in the then developing area of financial derivatives, and later joined Nasdaq-listed data company SunGard.
He returned to Ireland – and in 1996 established First Derivatives, providing support to the kinds of global financial services firms he'd previously worked for.
The business subsequently floated and listed on London's AIM and in Dublin.
It expanded its services from the finance sector to include clients like the Red Bull Formula One team and Airbus, as the demand for tools to analyse masses of data expanded across industries.
Mr Conlon died following an illness in 2019, aged just 53, and is survived by his wife Julie and their two children.
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