The Takeover Regulaton Panel (TRP) has asked Huge Group to remove yet another "announcement" video, relating to its Adapt IT acquisition bid, from its website.
The TRP’s request is the second one it has made to the telecoms company, after asking it to remove two videos from its website in April.
In the two clips, which have since been taken down, Huge highlighted the benefits of its bid to acquire Adapt IT, as opposed to an offer by Canadian software company, Volaris Group. However, the TRP said the videos constituted an announcement.
The panel has made the same determination on the latest video where executives, including CEO James Herbst, talk about the advantages of the Huge offer. They explain to shareholders that they will get 1.37 Huge shares for every Adapt IT share they own, adding a reminder that once Volaris has acquired the local technology company, it will be delisted from the JSE and this will impact the liquidity of the shares.
The new video came on the heels of 87% of Adapt IT’s shareholders voting in favour of the Volaris offer.
Huge had made an offer to acquire 100% of Adapt IT in an R800 million share-swap deal that would see 0.9 Huge shares offered for every Adapt IT share tendered. The swap ratio is based on a reference price of R6.13 and an implied price of R5.52 per Adapt IT share. But it faces competition from Volaris, which is offering shareholders R6.50 cash for each share.