News
New Zealand telco seeks to acquire mobile, fibre and rural Internet services provider.
Spark has launched a takeover bid for one of New Zealand’s smaller operators TeamTalk, it announced on Tuesday.
The New Zealand incumbent will offer 80 cents (€0.54) per share for 100% of the telco, it disclosed in a stock exchange filing. That represents a premium of 80% on its closing share price on 3 February, it said.
Thus the deal will come in at around NZ$22.7 million (€15.5 million), the New Zealand Herald calculated.
"We believe this is a compelling offer, at a significant premium to the current TeamTalk share price, which is unlikely to be achieved by other means," Spark managing director Simon Moutter said, in the filing.
"TeamTalk is a small operator in the New Zealand telco market. Its financial performance has declined over the last few years, with a number of profit downgrades, and it faces significant re-investment requirements across its businesses," he said, adding that the firm’s debt position and small market cap mean it is unlikely to be able to make the necessary investments as a standalone company.
TeamTalk runs a mobile service and also has two other operating units: CityLink, which offers metro fibre services mainly in Wellington’s business district, and Farmside, a rural ISP.
Spark has asked TeamTalk to allow it carry out due diligence on those businesses.
