DBAY Advisors to buy Telit Communications in £300 million deal

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – Telit Communications has agreed to be taken over by funds managed by DBAY Advisors in a deal valued at £306.9mln.

The AIM-listed company said that shareholders will each receive 220 pence per share in cash, representing a premium of 58.5% to the closing price on 2^nd November 2020, the last business day before the previous offer period began.

The takeover is being orchestrated by Trieste Acquisition Holdings, formed specifically for this acquisition and is an entity entirely owned by funds managed by DBAY Advisors.

Speaking on the deal, Telit’s non-executive chairman Simon Duffy said the company is built on strong financial, operations and governance foundations.

“Whilst we believe that Telit is well positioned to capitalise on growth opportunities in its markets, the Cash Offer represents an opportunity for Shareholders wanting to realise their investment in cash to do so at a material premium to the historical share price of Telit,” Duffy said.

Telit Communications (LON:) has been in takeover talks with various parties since the end of last year. On 3^rd November Telit announced it had received an offer from Lantronix. In December, the company confirmed it had received its first offer from DBAY but later that month the two parties announced they hadn’t reached an agreement and DBAY pulled out of the deal.

Telit also held communications with u-blox, the Swiss semiconductor firm, but the two parties announced in January that a deal could not be reached.

Finally, Telit has agreed to be bought by DBAY.

“The Cash Offer represents an opportunity for Telit Shareholders to realise their investment in cash at a material premium to the historical share price of Telit,” DBAY’s Julian Addison said. “We strongly believe Telit would benefit from a return to private ownership without the barrier of the current listing. We look forward to working with Telit’s management and employees to accelerate Telit’s current strategy and unlock the long-term value in Telit.”

At 11:05BST, Telit shares are trading above the offer price at 224.5 pence per share, suggesting that some expect another bid to come in for the AIM-listed company.