Seemingly over as swiftly as it began, Superloop has rejected a proposal from Aussie Broadband to merge.
On Monday, 27 February, Aussie Broadband acquired a 19.9% stake in Superloop, followed by a proposal to buy out the company. Later on the same day, as reported by Gizmodo Australia, Superloop rejected the “unsolicited” proposal, with the board labelling the move “opportunistic” and one that “fundamentally undervalues” the company.
According to its ASX announcement, Superloop “does not intend to engage” with the proposal. The original story as it happened follows below.
Big news is brewing in the Australian internet service provider space (ISP), with Aussie Broadband announcing its intention to take over fellow NBN provider Superloop.
To start proceedings, Aussie Broadband acquired a 19.9% stake in its business rival in addition to a non-binding indicative proposal to take over Superloop, in a move valued at $466 million. The Victorian company outlined details of the potential share arrangement in its ASX announcement. It would see Superloop shareholders receive 0.21 ABB shares per Superloop share held.
The news follows Aussie Broadband’s recent financial report, revealing a $445.9 million revenue for the first half of the 2024 financial year, up 17.7% from last year, while it recorded a gross profit of $154.3 million. Broadband connections also grew by over 20%, totalling 765,806 across the country.
“We believe the combination of Aussie Broadband and Superloop will be value accretive for both of our shareholders and importantly, improve our positioning and customer propositions in what is a highly competitive industry,” said Phillip Britt, Aussie Broadband Group managing director.
Aussie Broadband + Superloop merger: what does it mean?
As far as customers are concerned, there’s still a lot up in the air. A set timeline has not yet been established, and any merger depends on Aussie Broadband’s due diligence process. In other words, nothing is set in stone yet.
Customers of either brand don’t need to do anything at this stage, with Aussie Broadband planning on providing updates in the future. As it currently stands, Superloop usually provides some of the cheapest NBN plans, particularly among faster speed tiers. It remains to be seen whether the Superloop brand would continue post-acquisition, or whether it would be fully absorbed in the potential takeover.
This isn’t the only acquisition on the cards, either. As reported by the Australian Financial Review, Aussie Broadband’s acquisition of Symbio, a communications software company, is set to finalise by the end of February.
ABB getting a public spanking.