Invoice Processor Xchanging Urges Takeover

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A buyout battle could be brewing for the acquisition of Xchanging, a back office outsourcing provider of invoice processing and other services. Reports on Monday (Jan. 11) said Xchanging is urging its shareholders to accept a takeover offer from Computer Sciences Corp. after insurance software company Ebix made its own approach.

Reports said Ebix is offering about $650 million for the company, a proposal made in November. But Xchanging agreed to a raised offer by Computer Sciences Corp. for nearly $700 million just a few weeks later.

Xchanging has reportedly told its shareholders that Ebix is unlikely to provide a counteroffer and has given no indication that it would be able to finance a greater bid. Capita and Apollo Global Management had also been potential suitors to acquire Xchanging over the last year, according to reports.

The invoice processing market has seen a turn towards corporations demanding automation, digitization and data aggregation in recent years. Recent research from Basware and Ardent Partners, published last July, concluded that accounts payable executives in 2015 were more concerned with AP reporting and analytics than they were a year prior.