International law firm Bird & Bird continue to advise Earthport, a UK-based FinTech company, as the target of a now competing takeover bid by Mastercard by way of a takeover offer for £233 million. Mastercard's offer follows the bid that the Company received from Visa in December 2018 and represents a 10 per cent increase on the price offered by Visa.

Earthport plc is a global financial services company providing cross border payments services to banks and businesses in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Earthport’s clients include Ripple, Bank of America, Hyperwallet, Transferwise, Payoneer, and Japan Post Bank.

Bird & Bird has been acting for Earthport since 2009 and was appointed to take the Company through its global expansion over the last 10 years.

Simon Fielder Corporate partner led the team and was assisted by Corporate associates Youichi Iisaka and Charlotte Hart. The team also included partners Colin Kendon (Employee Incentives and Benefits), Peter Willis (Competition & EU), senior associate Gavin Punia (Banking & Finance) and associate Jonathan Goldsworthy (Employment).