Inabox shareholders have voted to accept an offer by MNF Group that will see the MyNetFone owner acquire all of Inabox Group’s operating businesses.
The deal, and a resolution to rename the ASX-listed company to IAB Holdings Limited, will see MNF Group take control of Telcoinabox, iVox, Neural Networks, Mobile Service Solutions and Symmetry Networks.
MNF Group beat off a rival offer from SB&G Telecoms, which had sought to acquire Inabox.
The original MNF deal was revealed in early October. Only weeks away from Inabox shareholders voting on that offer, SB&G Telecoms revealed it had acquired 19.9 per cent of Inabox and made an all-cash offer worth $21.4 million for those shares it didn’t already own.
The move compelled MNF Group to make a simplified $34.5 million offer for the Inabox businesses. Inabox countered with a somewhat-sweetened deal.
Yesterday the Inabox board announced that it was unanimously backing the offer from MNF Group.
The board had sent a letter to SB&G Telecoms seeking answers relating to the revised offer for Inabox shares.
“The answers received from SB&G in response to the Company’s questions do not adequately address a number of important concerns raised by Inabox,” a statement from the board said.
The statement said that “the uncertainty remaining around the Improved SB&G Takeover Offer far outweighs the value of the benefits promised to shareholders by SB&G and potentially exposes the Company to risk breaching its bank covenants and being unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due, if the Company is unable to quickly and successfully complete a capital raising.”
The statement added: “The success of any capital raising by the Company is likely to be dependent upon the strength of the underwriting, and it may be difficult to achieve certainty around underwriting given the current volatility of equity markets and while there remains material uncertainty whether any bid, including the Improved SB&G Takeover Offer, will be successful.”
It also said there that the board was not certain the fully franked special dividend SB&G Telecoms had outlined in its revised offer could be paid to shareholders.
Earlier this year Melbourne-based 5G Networks paid $5.7 million to acquire Hostworks and Anittel from Inabox.