Predator Macquarie Telecom has failed to get the Australian takeovers watchdog onside in its battle for control of “cloud computing” consultant Bulletproof Group.
Bulletproof — which helps companies store software and files in remote servers (“the cloud”) for greater efficiency — has been trying to fend off an 11c-per-share offer from Macquarie.
Bulletproof raised $2.8 million at 27c a share via a backdoor ASX listing in 2014. But the stock (ASX:BPF) has since traded as low as 6.5c and the company last year lost $6 million on revenue of $49.1 million.
Macquarie wanted the Takeovers Panel to intervene in its offer, because it believed the target’s statement and independent expert’s report were “deficient” and “misleading and deceptive”.
The independent expert says the 11c offer is neither fair nor reasonable and reflects a historical low in the price of the cloud provider’s shares.
But the panel has declined to maker a declaration of unacceptable circumstances, saying Macquarie’s criticisms of the independent expert’s report “did not go beyond matters of judgement in respect of which experts might reasonably disagree”.
The panel also suggested Macquarie outline its critiques in a supplementary bidder’s statement.
Bulletproof shares closed Friday up nearly 4 per cent at 13.5c on the back of the news.
Bulletproof is looking at alternatives to fend off Macquarie’s hostile bid and believes Klikon Group is the most viable partner.
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Chairman Craig Farrow said in a letter to investors in January that every offer fielded so far was better than Macquarie’s 11c a share.
Klikon Group, which owns managed services provider AC3 — formerly owned by the NSW government — has offered 15.2c a share cash.