Buy-out firms join fray in battle for Misys The bidding war for Misys has heated up after CVC and ValueAct Capital Partners confirmed that they were evaluating a possible cash bid for the FTSE 250 banking software group. CVC and ValueAct, Misys" largest shareholder with a 21.5 per cent stake, are in talks about a joint bid for the software company, creating a third option to counter last month's £1.2bn approach from Vista Equity Partners and an earlier deal with Switzerland's Temenos. The burgeoning list of suitors pushed up shares in Misys by 7 per cent, or 22p, to 338.1p in early London trading on Monday. "The proposed Misys and Temenos all-share merger has strategic logic but after further consideration we have decided to evaluate whether we can make an alternative proposal that provides the certainty of cash upon completion," said Jeffrey Ubben, chief executive and founder of ValueAct. "ValueAct remains committed to ensuring the best value for all Misys shareholders from any possible transaction," he said, adding that there was no certainty that an offer would be made. CVC and ValueAct's possible bid - a price for which has yet to be disclosed - would offer investors a cash alternative to the all-share merger tabled by Temenos, which would see shareholders in UK-based Misys take 53.9 per cent of the combined group and shareholders in its Swiss rival take 46.1 per cent. "Whilst the Temenos all-share offer has some commercial logic through combining product sets, customer bases and the opportunities for cost synergies, there are considerable execution challenges," said David Johnson at Northland Capital Partners. The potential cash offers from Vista and CVC/ValueAct would be simpler for institutions to digest. Although Misys did not confirm the figure, analysts estimated last month's cash offer from Vista, the US buy-out group, at 360p a share, valuing the software company at £1.2bn. Misys, whose software is used by the financial services industry, confirmed it was in talks with CVC/ValueAct, and said it had formed an independent committee of the board of directors, excluding Mr Ubben, to consider the proposal. It is continuing discussions with Vista and Temenos. Under the terms of the UK Takeover Code, CVC and ValueAct have until April 2 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Misys. Last August, Fidelity National Information Services, the US payment processing group, walked away from its all-cash takeover approach that valued Misys at £1.4bn.