Macquarie Telecom today announced it has lodged an application with the Takeovers Panel seeking a “declaration of unacceptable circumstances and related orders” in the wake of a target’s statement (PDF) released in December by Bulletproof.
A statement from the panel said that MacTel was seeking “final orders to the effect that Bulletproof prepare and lodge a replacement or supplementary target’s statement, and commission a replacement or supplementary independent expert’s report, addressing the deficiencies of the target’s statement and [independent expert’s report]”.
MacTel in November revealed its cloud services arm was seeking to acquire Bulletproof, offering $0.11 per share for the voting shares that it doesn’t already hold.
On 22 December Bulletproof lodged a target’s statement with the ASX in response to the off-market takeover bid. A committee of independent Bulletproof board directors unanimously recommended that the shareholders of the cloud services company reject the MacTel offer.
An independent expert appointed by the board to review the offer concluded that it was “not fair and reasonable,” a statement accompanying the target’s statement said.
The offer is opportunistic and reflects “an historical low point in the price of Bulletproof shares”, does not reflect the company’s strategic value and “does not reflect the potential profitability and value of Bulletproof following its recent restructuring and turnaround”.
MacTel said that the December statement “is misleading and/or deceptive in a number of material respects and as a whole is an unbalanced and one-sided document that fails to provide Bulletproof shareholders with the information they require to assess the merits” of its offer.
The company also said that it had extended its offer until 30 March.