Superloop cools its jets after target Symbio gets competing bid

afr.com:

Listed telco infrastructure business Superloop Limited is in no rush to lob a higher bid at its target Symbio, after its $2.85 a share bid was topped by Aussie Broadband late Friday evening.

Superloop has a playbook for assimilating new acquisitions. 

Sources said Superloop would wait to see if Aussie Broadband can firm up its Friday evening bid, before making its next move. And so, the most it should have on the ASX on Monday morning is some sort of confirmation that its scheme proposal expired unsigned by the target.

When it lobbed its $2.85-a-share bid on September 21, Superloop wanted Symbio to give it unanimous board approval and to sign the scheme implementation deed by Friday.

What it got instead was a board-blessed deal with an interloper. Aussie Broadband sauntered in with $3.15 a share late on Friday evening, and won three weeks of confirmatory due diligence as well as an indication of future board recommendation in one hit.

Symbio’s investors are likely to spend the coming days in weighing the two bidders. But the early read was that Aussie Broadband’s bid has a higher cash component and lower due diligence requirements (it hasn’t asked for reverse DD, unlike Superloop) – while Superloop could have better synergies and better prospects for index inclusion.

Symbio has Jarden and MA Financial advising it on the approaches. Superloop has tapped Luminis Partners, while the new arrival, Aussie Broadband, is leaning on Goldman Sachs.