Technology company Link Mobility is bidding on the Soprano Design communications platform. It comes out of the stock exchange announcement Sunday night.
Link has entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire all shares in Sydney-based Soprano Design for a total amount of NOK 3.6 billion by issuing 88.7 million new Link shares, which is a 30 per cent increase over the current figure, and a cash payment of A$25 million .
Link Mobility CEO Guillaume Van Gaver says the parties were unable to agree on terms after new information emerged.
– We conducted a thorough audit of the company, and at the end of the process new information appeared, I cannot go into details, but it led us to want to renegotiate the agreement. We couldn’t agree and come to an agreement,” Van Gaver told DN.
It was not known before
Link has been in negotiation and scrutiny of the company since May, writing in the exchange’s announcement that recent developments in the process have led to a renegotiation of the agreement. The parties discussed this last week, but did not agree on new terms of purchase.
Link has reported on several occasions this year that the acquisition is closer than ever. As recently as August, the company announced that it expects to sign a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Soprano soon.
Why does the cancellation come now since I told the market in late August that negotiations went well?
We made good progress on the negotiations, but the recent development in the information that was given to us was important to Link Mobility, and so we wanted to renegotiate. This development was not known before.
Since October last year, Link has completed more than five acquisitions.
We are very meticulous when it comes to company reviews to ensure that transactions deliver shareholder value, says Van Gaver.
DN has been in contact with founder and CEO Jens Rugseth. He does not wish to comment on the matter.
Back to the stock exchange
Link Mobility has been listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange since November last year. The company was also listed on the stock exchange in 2013, but was delisted in 2018. In the return of the stock exchange, the company was valued at over NOK 14 billion since the start. Since then, the stake has fallen by nearly 30 percent, and the company is now priced at NOK 11.4 billion.
The Link Mobility acquisition announcement was not well received by the market. In the month following the announcement, the price dropped. However, it took another leap when the company reported good second-quarter results in August.
Link Mobility, the Andresen family’s investment firm Ferd, owns 2.52 percent of the stock.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We want you to share our cases using a link that leads directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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