Huge Group goes on offensive in pursuit of Adapt IT moneyweb.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from moneyweb.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The protracted bidding war for acquisition of Adapt IT ratcheted up another notch on Friday after the Huge Group ramped up its bid to about R1.3 billion for the specialised software and digitally led business solutions company. Picture: Ian Landsberg/African News Agency(ANA)
Bidding war hots up after latest offer for Adapt IT
By Philippa Larkin
Share
THE PROTRACTED bidding war for acquisition of Adapt IT ratcheted up another notch on Friday after the Huge Group ramped up its bid to about R1.3 billion for the specialised software and digitally led business solutions company.
The market welcomed the move. Huge Group s shares closed 9.32 percent higher at R5.75 on Friday, while Adapt IT s shares leapt 8.64 percent to R6.79.
Transaction Capital Motor Holdco Proprietary Limited (âTCMHâ), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transaction
Capital, has concluded a subscription agreement, a sale agreement and a warranty agreement (collectively
âtransaction agreementsâ) to (i) subscribe for shares in WBC Holdings Proprietary Limited (âWBC Holdcoâ) and
acquire shares from certain of the existing shareholders in WBC Holdco (âsubscription and sale transactionâ);
and (ii) exchange the existing shares held by TCMH in We Buy Cars Proprietary Limited (âWeBuyCarsâ) for
newly issued shares in WBC Holdco (âexchange transactionâ), such that following the implementation of the
transaction agreements, TCMH will hold 74.9% of the issued shares in WBC Holdco on a fully diluted basis (the
Adapt IT has brushed off a takeover bid by the Huge Group as too low, saying the offer from the telecoms and fintech company is “unfair and unreasonable” to its shareholders.
In its formal response circular to shareholders, the technology group said following a review of Huge’s offer by an independent expert, an independent board appointed by the company determined that a fair price range for Adapt IT was between R7 and R9.09 per share and that Huge’s offer was materially below that range.
The move comes after the company’s shares took a drubbing on news that CEO Sbu Shabalala had taken a three-month leave of absence to sort out personal matters following newspaper reports that he was behind an assault case on his estranged wife’s partner. Chief commercial officer Tiffany Dunsdon has been appointed interim CEO for the three months.
Supplied
Adapt IT shareholders will have to wait a little longer for Volaris Group’s acquisition offer circular, after the Takeover Regulation Panel granted the company an extension to evaluate the offer.
The local technology company has captured the interest of Canada’s Volaris, which announced its intention to procure 100% of the company on a R6.50 per share cash offer. Volaris’ offer came after one made by South African telecoms company, Huge Group, which is offering shareholders a share swap based on a reference price of R6.13 and an implied price of R5.52 per Adapt IT share.
In a statement on Friday, Adapt IT said it had appointed an independent board expert to provide an opinion on both the Volaris and Huge group offers. However, the expert is still in the process of finalising their opinion, which means Adapt IT’s independent board opinion will also be delayed.