Telco giant Spark New Zealand
(ASX:SPK) has made a formal takeover offer to acquire its smaller competitor TeamTalk.
Spark’s plan is to acquire all the shares in TeamTalk at NZ$0.80 per share – in total, that is NZ$22.7 million for control of the entire company.
This deal, if it proceeds, will give Spark, ownership of a fibre network in Wellington and a wireless rural internet service provider.
Spark says its share offer is a 78% premium on the price of TeamTalk shares in February (before Spark announced its acquisition intentions). The company also says NZ$0.80 cents per share is an 82% premium on TeamTalk's three-month volume weighted average price.
However, TeamTalk’s chairman, Roger Sowry, is opposed to Spark’s takeover, and says the offer is "opportunistic”, “hostile”, "undervalues the company” and is not "fair value” for TeamTalk’s shareholders.
This morning, shares in Spark New Zealand have dipped 0.3% to $3.27.
