Irish software house ION has entered the bidding for Fidessa, offering a cash deal of £38.07 per share in the capital markets tech firm.
ION's offer trumps the £35.67 pence per share deal on the table from Swiss core banking vendor Temenos.
ION has grown its business over the year through a series of targeted acquisitions. In Feburary it acquired Openlink Financial, continuing a treasury management investment buying spree which has seen it swallow up IT2, Financial Software Systems and Wall Street Systems.
Ion's entry into the bidding comes as a deadline for competing offers set by the UK's Takeover Panel draws to a close at 5pm today.
Fidessa will be awaiting a formal offer from US software firm SS&C, a second alternative suitor identified by the firm in the wake of the initial agreed $1.4 billion deal with Temenos.