98% back Riley’s Daisy deal
MATTHEW Riley’s near £500m take-private of the Lancashire telecoms business Daisy has virtually completed.
The offer has been deemed “unconditional to acceptances” after being supported by nearly 98% of shareholders.
The offer period is still open but even if shareholders oppose the plan their holdings can now can now be bought compulsorily because the bid vehicle has secured more than 90%.
Daisy floated at 80p a share in July 2009 through the reverse takeover of Freedom4 Group and Vialtus. The buyout has given shareholders 185p a share.
Mr Riley, the Nelson group’s chief executive, has conducted the deal as part of a consortium with Toscafund Asset Management and Penta Capital. It is being part-funded by a £265m loan agreed with a syndicate of banks including HSBC, Lloyds, ING Bank. There is also a £130m payment-in-kind loan from Ares Capital. PIK loans are usually an expensive form of finance that do not allow for any repayment until they mature.
Daisy was supported by accountancy group EY which provided debt and transaction advice.
Richard Harding, transaction support partner, said: “Daisy has been highly acquisitive over the last few years, and become a leading unified communications and IT business of significant scale. We’re delighted to have supported the consortium on this transaction.”
