Uniti Wireless (ASX: UWL) has increased seven-fold since it listed and arguably director Vaughan Bowen was a big part of this having only joined after two directors departed days after its IPO.

He is a mergers and acquisitions specialist who founded M2 Group and grew it into an ASX 100 company which was bought by Vocus (ASX: VOC) in 2016.

Soon after joining, Bowen bought $951,560.62 in Uniti shares. Thanks to Uniti’s substantial rise, that parcel of shares would now be worth over $4.4 million.

This morning we learned that Bowen bought another $1.55 million last week, taking his stake in the company to $6 million.

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Evidently Bowen believes the company will continue to grow. The South Australian-founded company wants to be an alternative to the NBN – offering its own network.

While Uniti are currently only available in Melbourne & Adelaide it plans to expand into other cities in the coming months through acquisitions. It has bought Pivit, Call Dynamics and Fuzenet although a bid for Spirit Telecom (ASX: ST1) was turned down.

“I genuinely believe the potential exists for the company to materially grow earnings, free cash flow and income diversity, which will in turn be reflected in strong and growing shareholder returns and the elevation of Uniti to a sizeable, highly profitable company over the medium term,” Bowen said in March.

Although Uniti is not yet profitable, shareholders have admired its momentum, sending the stock from 25 cents to $1.50 since it listed in February; up six times. This morning it gained 9 cents (to $1.50) – 6.7 per cent.

 

In other ASX small cap news today

Nickel Mines (ASX: NIC) completed a $55 million capital raising and a notice filed yesterday afternoon revealed prominent small cap investor Regal Funds Management put $11 million into it. Regal already were substantial holders but now hold 7.36 per cent of the company. The capital raising comes 10 months after the company first listed and two weeks after its Indonesian project was commissioned.

Macmahon Holdings (ASX: MAH) has announced it will buy fellow mining company GBF. Macmahon will pay $48 million and potentially two further earn-out payments subject to performance standards being met. Macmahon CEO Michael Finnegan said GBF was “a strategically compelling and financially attractive acquisition for Macmahon”, and would allow it to achieve scale in its business. The two companies will have $2.3 billion in tenders across 11 projects and expects more opportunities in the future. It anticipates the transaction will be complete in August.

Cyber security firm Whitehawk (ASX: WHK) has announced one of its contracts has been extended. It will provide cyber risk monitoring and mitigation for a “Top 12 US Defence Industrial Base Company”. The contract will be worth US$218,000. The company told shareholders this, “strengthens WhiteHawk’s presence in a sector in severe need of supply chain cyber risk mitigation services”.