Superloop considering takeover offer

Superloop has announced receiving an unsolicited takeover offer of AU$1.95 per share last month.

The original offer from QIC Private Capital was received on April 2 for AU$1.90 per share; however, it was upped by AU$0.05 on April 26, and will occur either via full cash or partial cash and partial scrip in a new unlisted entity.

Superloop's closing price on April 2 was AU$1.465.

"The board of Superloop, together with its advisers, have undertaken a careful review of the revised indicative proposal and determined that it is in the best interests of Superloop shareholders to grant QIC a period of approximately three weeks to conduct due diligence on an exclusive basis ... in order to establish whether an acceptable binding transaction can be agreed," Superloop said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday.

Queensland Investment Corporation, an investment company owned by the Queensland government, was therefore granted three weeks as of April 28.

"There is no certainty that the revised indicative proposal will result in a transaction," Superloop added.

For the most recent financial year, Superloop reported its revenue had more than doubled, up 109% to AU$125.2 million for FY18.

Net profit for the company was AU$7.1 million, up from a net loss of AU$1.2 million a year prior, on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of AU$29 million, up from AU$4.6 million following its acquisitions of NuSkope, GX2 Technology, BigAir, and SubPartners.

During the 2018 financial year, Superloop added 671km of fibre to its terrestrial networks, growing from 217km to 242km in Australia; from 176km to 190km in Singapore; and from 221km to 239km in Hong Kong. It also invested AU$21.8 million in long-term network and capacity agreements -- AU$1.7 million in Singapore, AU$8.6 million in Hong Kong, and AU$11.5 million in international.

During the year to June 30, Superloop established its Superbb retail service provider arm and acquired 10,000 fixed-line customers -- thanks to its AU$1.5 million purchase of SkyMesh's customers in June -- which it said would "kickstart the group's position in the retail NBN marketplace".

Its Indigo subsea cable project could be completed by the 2019 financial year, with Superloop in November announcing that the submarine telecommunications cable will land in NextDC's Perth and Sydney data centres.

The cable will connect to NextDC's 6MW P1 and 16MW S1 datacentres, as well as the upcoming 20MW P2 and 30MW S2 datacentres.

Being built by Telstra, SubPartners, Google, Singtel, AARNet, Indosat Ooredoo, and Alcatel Submarine Networks, the Indigo cable will span around 9,000km, connecting Sydney, Perth, Singapore, and Jakarta. It has two fibre pairs.

According to SubParters, the 36Tbps system go live in mid-2019 after completing its landing in Sydney at Coogee Beach in July last year.

Related Coverage

Tonga signs 15-year satellite deal after January cable outage

Access to the Kacific1 satellite will provide 89 outer islands with broadband speeds comparable to those seen in Tonga's major cities.

Sydney is home to new AU$224m Equinix data centre

SY5 is expected to open adjacent to SY4 in Alexandria in the third quarter of 2019.

Superloop revenue doubles as Indigo subsea cable nears completion

The final splice of the Indigo subsea cable system is expected to take place in late December, Superloop has said, announcing an FY18 net profit of AU$7 million on revenue of AU$125 million.