Lynch-backed Featurespace in talks to be acquired by Visa: report

A UK-based fraud detection firm backed by late technology tycoon Mike Lynch is in advanced talks to be sold to U.S. payments giant Visa (NYSE:V), Sky News reported Saturday.

Cambridge-headquartered Featurespace could be valued at more than £700 million in a potential deal, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

However, the deal has not yet been formalized and could still fall apart, the report added.

Lynch, who died when his superyacht Bayesian sank in Sicily, served as a non-executive director on the company’s board. His investment firm Invoke Capital owns a small stake in Featurespace.

According to the report, Invoke Capital is said to have reduced its stake in recent years to help fund Lynch’s legal battle with Hewlett-Packard over the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy in 2011.

“It is a high statistical probability that Featurespace wouldn’t be a thriving technology company without Mike,” said Featurespace in a blog post.

“Mike’s personal investment in Featurespace supported the development of an invention that has proved fundamental in the progress of AI,” the company added.

Invoke Capital also backed British cybersecurity company Darktrace (OTCPK:DRKTF), which is currently in the middle of a sale to U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo for an enterprise value of $4.99 billion.

Since its founding in 2008, Featurespace has raised over $100 million in a series of funding rounds. The company’s notable investors include Merian Chrysalis, Insight Venture Partners, IP Group and Highland Europe.

The provider of adaptive behavioral analytics software counts HSBC, Danske Bank, Vocalink, Worldpay, and TSYS as its customers.

Visa (V) said it did not comment on rumor or speculation. Featurespace did not immediately respond to a Seeking Alpha request for comment.