- Software specialist Iress (IRE) has sweetened its takeover bid for fund manager OneVue (OVH) today, offering 43 cents per share for full control of OVH
- Iress initially offered 40 cents per share in early June, but major OneVue investor Thorney Opportunities said this was too low
- At the time of the offer, Thorney held roughly 15 per cent of OneVue
- Since, then, the investor has upped its voting power to 18.25 per cent — likely in an effort to shoot the deal down
- Iress chief Andrew Walsh said the new 43-cent bid is the company’s best and final offer
- Shareholders will vote on the scheme on October 9
- Shares in OneVue are up almost five per cent this afternoon and worth 41 cents each, while shares in Iress are up just over a per cent and worth $9.66
Software specialist Iress (IRE) has sweetened its takeover bid for fund manager OneVue (OVH) today, offering 43 cents per share for full control of OVH.
The revised offer price comes after major OneVue investor Thorney Opportunities gradually upped its stake in the fund manager since the deal was announced.
Iress lobbed its initial takeover bid at the start of June, offering OneVue 40 cents per share. At the time, Thorney had a 14.96 per cent interest in OneVue.
Since then, however, Thorney has bolstered its holding in OneVue to a neat 18.25 per cent in a series of transactions. Billionaire investor Alex Waislitz, who owns Thorney, has gone on record to say that Iress’ offer is too low.
As such, it seems Throney is boosting its voting power in OneVue so it can shoot the deal down.
Iress CEO Andrew Walsh said today the original 40-cent-per-share offer was in the upper end of an independent expert’s valuation of OneVue. OneVue Managing Director Connie Mckeage said after reviewing the offer, this was true. OneVue’s board unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
Now, Iress’ chief has said today’s 43-cent bid is the company’s best and final offer.
“While overall feedback from OneVue shareholders has been very positive regarding the scheme, Iress has considered all shareholder feedback and decided consideration to 43 cents per share to give the scheme the greatest chance of success,” Andrew said.
“This revised price is at the top of the independent expert’s valuation range of 36 cents to 43 cents per OneVue share and represents a 49 per cent premium to the 28 May 2020 closing share price,” he said.
The OneVue board once again unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the deal.
Shareholders will vote for or against the deal on October 9 — meaning Thorney has two weeks to put more money where its mouth is if it thinks the offer is still too low.
Following the upgraded offer, OneVue shares are up 4.59 per cent and trading for 41 cents each at 3:24 pm AEST.
Meanwhile, Iress shares are up a slight 1.36 per cent and worth $9.66 each.