Shares of DST Systems soar 22 percent after Reuters reports buyout interest

Reuters exclusively reported on June 14 that diversified data processing company DST Systems Inc has received buyout overtures from several private equity firms, including one led by activist investor Russell Glass. Reuters broke the news that Glass and another private equity firm had expressed interest in buying DST for a per-share price in the mid $60 range, which would value the whole company at roughly $3 billion. DST shares jumped as much as 22 percent on the news. The Reuters story caused the company to respond in a public statement that confirmed it has received informal inquiries about selling to a private equity firm but that it had turned them down. Several analysts cited Reuters in their research reports on DST, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Evercore Partners and Robert W. Baird. Competitors such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal were forced to pick up or match the Reuters scoop.