The residue of Melbourne-based digital services provider Arq Group, Webcentral Group has received a revised proposal for takeover from Web.com. Formerly known as Melbourne IT, Webcentral received an offer in July from Web.com of AU$0.10 a share which amounted to approximately AU$12 million.
On 15th September, the company took that offer up by a notch to AU$0.155 per share which brings up the amount to AU$18.9 million. This amount of almost AU$19 million will be paid to Webcentral Group in cash.
5G Networks’ bid to buy Webcentral Group
Though the offer is a whopping 55% more than what was offered earlier, Australia’s licensed telecom operator 5G Networks has also placed a bid of AU$21.6 million to purchase Webcentral last week.
Just 7 days before placing their bid, 5G Networks has successfully raised a capital of AU$30 million to fund the purchase of Webcentral. The company already owns a 10% stake in the digital services provider company and told its shareholders that it won’t vote in the favour of the offer by Web.com. Additionally, Webcentral said that Keybridge Capital, that owns 9.24% interest, would also not vote in the favour of the deal. Web.com has been given a time of 5 business days to beat or match 5G Networks’ offer.
The telco said it has previously completed the detailed due diligence at the time of a recent strategic review of Webcentral and will see AU$7 million in efficiency gains if the two businesses were to join forces.
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More on the announcement of Web.com
The statement by Web.com read that the improvised offer is the only certain cash proposal for the shares of Webcentral and offers a certain cash outcome and short-term liquidity for all Webcentral shareholders.
In February 2020, Arq Group sold its name along with its Enterprise Services Division for AU$35 million. Post the sale, Arq was left with only its SMB Division, which was known as Webcentral after the firm’s annual general meeting conducted in May.
The company had recorded a net loss after tax of approximately AU$129 million in the first half of 2020. However, the firm claims that its underlying EBITDA was just over AU$12 million from though reported EBITDA was a loss of AU$31 million for six months to December 2019.
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