A week ago the Southern Cross Media Group (SCA) Board said no to the indicative takeover proposal from ARN and Anchorage Capital Partners saying, and I’m paraphrasing here, we’re worth more than you’re offering. They said they were open to a ‘revised’ (ie increased) offer and now ARN has obliged.
I say obliged but not without affirming their inital offer was appropriate:
“The Consortium disagrees with this assessment and continues to see the Proposed Transaction as a unique opportunity for SCA and ARN shareholders to unlock immediate and long-term value creation in broadcast radio and digital audio, with SCA shareholders also realising significant cash proceeds and gaining potential access to franking credits.”
They now will offer 0.870 ARN shares for every SCA share and 29.6c cash paid by bidding partner Anchorage Capital Partners. This is an increase from the previous 0.753 ARN shares, and an additional 10 cents of value per fully diluted SCA share. The value of the additional offering based is worth more than $200 million to SCA.
In response, the SCA board has recommended in a statement that shareholders take no action: “The Revised Indicative Proposal is highly conditional and there is no certainty that it will result in a binding transaction”.
There is additional responses to SCA’s own internal changes that have occurred while this takeover proposal has to and fro-ed between the organisations and a request from ARN / Anchorage for SCA’s 2H FY24 financial forecasts with ARN saying:
“If the relevant information and access to SCA management is provided promptly, the Consortium considers that a binding transaction can be entered into quickly to provide certainty to both ARN and SCA shareholders.”