AussieSim to list on ASX as ZipTel in reverse takeover
Pre-paid travel SIM provider, AussieSim, is set to list on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) as ZipTel after raising AU$5 million in a reverse takeover of sports merchandise company, Skywards Limited.
Skywards Limited, formerly Beyond Sportswear International Limited, is an Australian-based sports merchandise manufacturing and distribution company. In January, Skywards entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of AussieSim — effectively allowing it to list on the ASX, leveraging Skywards' existing listing.
As part of the process, Skywards was seeking to raise a minimum of AU$3 million and a maximum of AU$5 million, which it surpassed, with the oversubscribed share offer closing on 22 May. Skywards will be renamed ZipTel Limited and is expected to re-list on the ASX on or around 12 June.
The prospectus was published on 14 May, the company had a trading halt on 23 May, and the oversubscribed offering was announced on 28 May. Skywards reported a total loss of AU$1.7 million for the six months ending 31 December 2013.
As part of the reverse takeover, AussieSim's Bert Mondello, Keaton Wallace, Josh Hunt, and Salvatore Vallelonga will join the board of Skywards upon completion of its acquisition.
"The support from investors has been overwhelming, in particular that of some leading Australian institutional investors whom we welcome to our register," said Wallace, ZipTel's executive director appointee. "The company now has significant funding to pursue its objectives including the rapid growth of our AussieSim business and the launch of the ZipT app."
The ZipT app is designed to allow users to make international calls from their mobile phones at "some of the world’s lowest rates," according to the company.
For Skywards chairman, Mathew Walker, the deal sees his company offer ZipTel a platform from which to build its business.
"We are buoyed by the level of investor demand for the offer seeing the maximum of AU$5 million being raised and the offer closing oversubscribed," said Walker. "ZipTel now has an excellent platform from which to significantly grow its business and we wish the incoming directors every success."
In a statement (PDF) to Skywards shareholders, AussieSim said its business model currently "generates revenues" and is underpinned by three years of research and development creating "superior, scalable products with high barriers to entry".
The move is latest in an increasingly long line of Australian technology businesses entering into reverse-takeover acquisition deals with ASX-listed companies, allowing them to list publicly.
In late April, enterprise cloud application provider, PRM Cloud Solutions, was wholly acquired by ASX-listed mining exploration company, Minerals Corporation, whose business had dried up. At the time, PRM Cloud Solutions' chief executive, Leigh Kelson, said he expected the company to list by the end of this month.
In March, another local cloud computing provider, CloudCentral announced it would engage in a reverse takeover of troubled vineyard ownership company, Dromana Estate, with the transaction set to be completed by June.