Retelit goes public after the acquisition of Brennercom, ICT and TLC provider based in Bolzano. One hour after the start of trading, the stock rose by 2,39% to 1,627 euro after having touched a maximum of 1,648 euros.
The Athesia group announced this morning, 20 January, that it had accepted the binding offer presented by Retelit Digital Services for theacquisition of 100% of the share capital of Brennercom.
Retelit, through its subsidiary, would like to acquire all the Brennercom shares held by the two current shareholders: Athesia Druck GmbH and Athesia Tyrolia Druck GmbH, controlled by Athesia. Instead, it will remain eexcluded from the Met operation, a company not wholly owned by Brennercom, which will be spun off before any closing.
The amount of the transaction would amount to approximately 52 million, based on an Enterprise Value of Brennercom and its subsidiaries estimated up to now (excluding the Italian subsidiary MET) at 65 million. There are no earn-outs. The operation will be signed on 17 February, while the closing will take place between June and July. The offer also envisages that part of the price, up to a maximum of 15 million, can be paid in listed Retelit shares and that after the closing, the current Brennercom shareholders will continue to be part of the governance.
The acquisition is expected to be supported in part by the loan made available by Unione di Banche Italiane, Intesa Sanpaolo and MPS Capital Services per le Imprese (with Banca IMI as agent), to which Banco BPM was subsequently added, and partly through an additional credit line which will be subject to negotiation with this pool of banks.
“This transaction - explains the company in a note - will allow Retelit to further increase its volumes and margins and thus position itself among the leading companies in Italy in the ICT sector and to enjoy clear competitive advantages, given, among other things, from a greater possibility of technological investments to increase the infrastructure and services, greater commercial coverage of the territory, better economies of scale with optimization of direct and network costs, without forgetting an increased contractual strength.
Il President of Retelit Dario Pardi commented: “The offer for the possible acquisition of Brennercom represents a further step in Retelit's expansion strategy. Brennercom is an important reality that oversees an area that has always been of interest to Retelit, and reflects the requirements we look for in the target companies: medium-sized companies, with assets complementary to those of Retelit and quality services. The possible acquisition of Brennercom represents a further added value in the growth strategy, recently enriched by the acquisition of Gruppo PA”.
“In particular, with Brennercom we believe we can give a strong acceleration to the increase in volumes and margins, thanks to the creation of strong synergies in terms of offerings, mainly for the corporate market and an intensification of activity on the Munich-Tyrol axis -Milan where Brennercom is the market leader”, concludes the manager.
