Business Connexion (BCX) shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the offer by Telkom SA to acquire the entire share capital of BCX by way of schemes of arrangement.
The purchase consideration is R6.60 per ordinary share and R6.60 per “A” share, which represents a premium of 20% over the share price of BCX at close of trading on 14 April 2014, the day before the cautionary announcement was issued. This values BCX at R2,67-billion.
In addition, it was announced on 8 August 2014 that BCX would pay a special dividend to shareholders of up to 20c per ordinary share prior to the implementation of the proposed transaction. This dividend distribution, is over and above the R6.60 purchase consideration per share offered by Telkom.
“We believe that working together with Telkom will improve our customer value proposition through a greater ability to provide integrated end-to-end ICT solutions and a more global and competitive offering, particularly on the African continent. There are also some synergies between our respective businesses, which will be explored in more detail as we get closer to the completion of the transaction,” says Isaac Mophatlane, CEO of BCX.
The rationale for the transaction is in line with BCX’s existing convergence strategy as major global technological changes are driving the convergence of the Information Technology and the telecommunications industries. This merger would therefore advance BCX’s convergence strategy and present new and exciting opportunities for staff in the greater combined entity. The BCX brand and management team also remain in place in the event of a successful transaction.
“This is a key milestone in the proposed transaction process and we will now work together with Telkom on a number of conditions which remain to be fulfilled for this deal to happen, including various regulatory approvals over the coming months,” Mophatlane adds.
The proposed transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including the approval by the Competition Authorities and other regulatory approvals. Based on the current timeline, the proposed transaction is expected to be finalised in November 2014.
