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Network operator Superloop has received an acquisition proposal worth $494 millionfrom Brisbane-based private equity firm QIC Private Capital.
Received on 26 April and worth $1.95 per share, the offer follows a previous undisclosed proposal made earlier in the month, whereby QIC Private Capital offered $1.90 per share.
The revised indicative proposal includes two options for Superloop shareholders to consider, namely, full cash; or partial cash and partial scrip in a newly formed, unlisted entity.
"The board of Superloop, together with its advisers, have undertaken a careful review of the revised indicative proposal and determined that it is in the best interests of Superloop shareholders to grant QIC a period of approximately three weeks to conduct due diligence on an exclusive basis in order to establish whether an acceptable binding transaction can be agreed," the company told shareholders.
That period had its start on 28 April and can be extended if both parties agree to.
Superloop said however that the revised indicative proposal is incomplete and subject to a number of conditions.
Superloop was founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who announced he was stepping down from the role of CEO in March 2018, appointing Drew Kelton. Superloop acquired BigAir in 2016 in a deal valued at $95 million at the time.
In April 2017, the company acquired telecommunications infrastructure company, SubPartners for US$2.5 million, which was followed by another acquisition in September, this time of South Australian fixed wireless internet services provider NuSkope for $10 million.
In November 2017, Superloop announced the acquisition of Ruckus partner GX2 Holdings and its subsidiaries for $12 million. More recently, the company acquired the fibre broadband customer base of SkyMesh for $1.5 million.
If the acquisition goes ahead, QIC will inherit SubPartners' share of the Indigo subsea cables, which includes Indigo Central, which connects Sydney to Perth was completed in 24 December, only three days after Indigo West, which connects Singapore to Sydney, was completed on 21 December.
Superloop closed the 2018 financial year with $7.1 million net profit after tax, the first positive full year NPAT for the company since listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2015.
The publicly-listed company reported net loss after tax in its two previous full year financial results with a net loss of $7.2 million in FY16 and a net loss of $1.2 million in FY17.
