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MNF Group (ASX:MNF) chases simplicity with partial sale of its telecommunications arm

Telecommunication
ASX:MNF
07 June 2021 14:10 (AEST)
MNF Group (ASX:MNF) - CEO, Rene Sugo

Source: MNF Group

MNF Group (MNF) has signed a conditional term sheet under which it will sell part of its “direct business” to Vonex (VN8) for $31 million.

While the exact stake to be sold was not disclosed, MNF said the deal related to those businesses that provided cloud phone, mobile and internet services directly to small business and residential customers in Australia.

Last year, these services generated $15.6 million in revenue, $13.9 million of which came from the business segment while $1.7 million was derived from retail users.

According to MNF, roughly 86 per cent of the revenue generated is classified as recurring.

“As the new ‘work from home’ paradigm has become part of life for more Australians, we have increasingly focused on providing Australian SMEs with telco services that are reliable, affordable, flexible and scalable,” managing director of Vonex Matt Fahey said.

“Migrating and integrating the Direct Business with our own will bring us a meaningful national footprint and help us to gain the scale through which we can continue to deliver strong value to customers and investors.”

Of the $31 million payment, $20 million is payable upon completion of the sale — expected by the end of July — while the remaining $11 million will be payable in 12 monthly instalments thereafter.

MNF said the sale was in line with its strategy to simplify its operations, bolster recurring revenues and focus on growing its wholesale business, Symbio.

“The divestment of these direct businesses is in line with our strategy to simplify MNF’s business and drive growth in Communications Platform as a Service (CPaas) and Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS) services,” chief executive of MNF Group Rene Sugo said.

“Importantly, funds from the sale will be reinvested into our growing wholesale business and our expansion offshore.”

MNF Group was up 9.49 per cent to $5.42 per share at 12:49 pm AEST.

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