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Summary
- Vocus Group Ltd has received a takeover offer from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings Pty Ltd.
- In the past, it had received various offers, but nothing has materialised yet.
Sydney- based fibre network owner Vocus Group Ltd (ASX:VOC) has announced that it has received a takeover offer from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings Pty Ltd (MIRA) for A$3.42 billion (US$3.5 billion). An indicative offer of A$5.5 per Vocus share has been made by the alternative asset manager, which represents a 25.6 per cent premium to Vocus’ previous day’s (5 February) closing price of A$4.38.
The Australian telecom firm has said that it has granted due diligence access to MIRA, which would pave the way for a binding proposal. In a statement, Vocus said the board has noted that the takeover bid is subject to several conditions such as entry into a mutually acceptable scheme implementation agreement, MIRA’s satisfactory completion of due diligence, its securing debt financing, and a unanimous recommendation by the Vocus board.
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The telecommunication company has recommended that the offer is in the best interest of shareholders with respect to its size. However, the board remains sceptical whether the binding offer would come out of the proposal. In order to attract more likely suitors, Vocus has split its operations into three independent units.
Other Offers
MIRA’s takeover proposal is the third offer made to Vocus since 2018. The first offer was from AGL Energy (ASX:AGL), the power supplier and EQT Infrastructure. The private equity firm of Sweden refused to acquire the company following a brief due diligence period.
In 2017, separate discussions over takeover deals with private equity firms KKR and Affinity Equity Partners also failed to convert into an acceptable deal after the discussions ended ahead of due diligence.
Financial position
In the full-year results (for the period ending 30 June 2020) posted by Vocus in August 2020, the telecom company recorded a 623 per cent loss to A$178.2 million, diving from A$34 million in the financial year 2019. The loss was primarily due to the cost associated with the uncertain outlook caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
The revenue of the company for FY 2020 also dropped 6 per cent to $1.78 billion on year-on-year basis. The company has not been paying dividends to its shareholders since FY 2017.
Share Price Movement
The shares of Vocus Group Limited jumped to their highest value since November 2016 after the acquisition news surfaced. The stock closed at A$4.94 on 8 February, after recording a 12.79 per cent increase from its previous day’s trading session value.
