S1 Pushes Fundtech Merger Vote To October

S1 Corp. has postponed the shareholder meeting it scheduled to vote on its planned merger with Fundtech Ltd.

The meeting, originally scheduled for Sept. 22, is now planned for Oct. 13. Any valid proxy votes that have already been sent to S1 remain valid for the new meeting time.

S1 still faces a hostile bid from ACI Worldwide Inc., which could disrupt its planned merger with Fundtech.

However, "no change has been made to the proposals to come before the special meeting," S1 said in a Sept. 8 press release. The new date is closer to the Oct. 24 meeting Fundtech scheduled for its own shareholders.

S1's board plans to provide guidance on Sept. 13 regarding an exchange offer ACI made directly to shareholders.

ACI's push to acquire S1 – over the vocal objections of the S1 board – is incompatible with S1's plan to merge with Fundtech. Whatever combination ultimately emerges, it will create a powerful new company that combines back-end payments capabilities with front-end online banking products and services, experts say (see story).

Despite S1's emphatic rejections of ACI's repeated offers (see story),  a combination of the two companies remains a distinct possibility.

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