Computershare to Purchase BNY Mellon Investor Services - 27 Apr 2011

http://bit.ly/iwm8EI

The world's largest share registry operator said it would reap
$US70m in synergy benefits from BNY Mellon, its biggest acquisition, in
the third year of ownership.

Computershare backed its judgment
that antitrust regulators would approve the deal, promising to pay the
target a $US30m break fee if approval was not given within 12 months.

"Obviously,
that means we are meaningfully confident that we will get the approval
that we need to proceed," Computershare chief executive Stuart Crosby
told investors.

Computershare's global expansion in registry services has given it dominance in Australia, Britain and the US.

BNY
Mellon, with $US291m in revenue last year, is a leading provider of
transfer agency and employee equity plan services to US publicly listed
companies.

It has 950 active transfer agents and about 200 employee share scheme customers.

Deutsche
Bank said in a note yesterday that BNY Mellon was the No 1 player in
the transfer agent market with a 40 per cent share, ahead of
Computershare, which was ranked second at 30 per cent.

"Anti-trust issues are a key concern in regard to the deal proceeding," analyst Kieren Chidgey said.

Ivor
Ries of EL&C Baillieu agreed, saying Computershare would become the
dominant player and would need US Justice Department, and possibly
Federal Reserve, approval. Mr Crosby said the company had obtained legal
advice that made it confident the deal would go ahead.

He said there was a range of active and aggressive competitors that had taken clients from Computershare.

Investors backed the company, with the stock surging 69c, or 7.7 per cent, to $9.62.

The transaction will be funded from available cash resources and new credit lines.

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