KCOM’s proposed £627m sale to telecoms investment firm Macquarie has been branded “not a good deal” for historic shareholders at the broadband provider.
A shareholder, who did not want to be named, said he bought his shares in KCOM when the company first floated on the Stock Exchange at 225p each in 1999.
The impending takeover of KCOM is worth 120.3p per share – a point which the shareholder has now hit out at.
He said: “The majority of people seem to have no idea of what they stand to lose if this takeover takes place.
“I have had my shares since KCOM floated. At one point they went as high as £17 per share.
“When KCOM first floated, it was originally advertised saying the idea was for the shares to stay as local as possible. If this takeover goes through, that will not happen.”
Proposed buyer Macquarie beat rival bidder USS during a week-long auction for KCOM last week.
The final day of the auction, on Friday, saw Macquarie bid £627m for KCOM – almost £40m than USS.
The Macquarie offer is worth more than 7p per KCOM share more than USS’, and in the aftermath of the auction, the broadband provider’s board issued a clear recommendation to back the winning bid.
A statement released by KCOM said: “In light of the superior proposal put forward by MEIF 6 Fibre as compared to the USS Offer, the KCOM Directors, who have been so advised by Rothschild & Co as to the financial terms of the MEIF 6 Fibre Offer, consider the terms of the MEIF 6 Fibre Offer to be fair and reasonable.
“Accordingly, the KCOM Directors recommend unanimously that KCOM Shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme in respect of the MEIF 6 Fibre Offer at the Court Meeting, and in favour of the General Meeting Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting, which meetings will be re-convened as soon as reasonably practicable.”
It has since been announced that shareholders will vote on Macquarie’s new offer at a meeting held from 11am on July 26.
And the shareholder who contacted Hull Live in the wake of the auction says he does not want the takeover to go ahead at the price proposed by Macquarie.
He said if it does, he would receive just over half what he invested in KCOM when it first floated.
“We were told when we bought shares not to expect to get a return for several years," he said.
“KCOM said it was going to build the company up, and hopefully it would become more prosperous in the future.
“KCOM has now urged shareholders to back the takeover, but I don’t think all the shareholders realise what will happen if they do.”
KCOM was approached for a comment on the implications of the proposed takeover to shareholders.
It said it was unable to comment while the takeover process was ongoing.
