Victorian Supreme Court approves CSC's AU$427m UXC acquisition
Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) has been given the green light from the Supreme Court of Victoria to wholly acquire the shares of Australian-listed IT and business solutions firm UXC Limited.
UXC told shareholders on Thursday that it expects a copy of court orders to be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Friday February 12, 2016, at which time the acquisition will become legally effective and UXC stock will be suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Initially, CSC proposed to pay AU$1.26 per share with a fully franked dividend of AU$0.02 cash per share, with the amount recalculated based on US GAAP and Australian accounting standards, resulting in CSC proposing to pay AU$1.22 per share with no change to the dividend for the half year ending December 31.
Based on 345 million UXC shares, the total value of the transaction would be approximately AU$427.6 million upon completion.
Cris Nicolli, managing director of UXC, said the combined CSC-UXC would be among the region's largest IT services companies, based on revenues.
According to New York Stock Exchange-listed CSC, the acquisition will broaden CSC's market coverage and product offerings, with an expanded client base and deeper industry expertise.
"We look forward to the prospect of the UXC team joining CSC," Mike Lawrie, CSC president and CEO, said.
"The addition of UXC would continue the process of rebalancing our offering portfolio and strengthening our global commercial business. UXC's application platform capabilities -- combined with CSC's existing strengths in cloud, cyber, and big data -- would enhance what the two companies already deliver to clients in the region."
In October, Nicolli said that the proposal from CSC recognises the potential of UXC and is a testament to the strong business his company has built, adding that he and fellow staff were tremendously proud of what the company had achieved.
At the time, Nicolli also announced his retirement following a 12-year tenure with the firm, which included five years in the chief's position.
In August, CSC announced two other strategic acquisitions, which included service-management technology provider Fruition Partners; and London-based Fixnetix, provider of front-office managed trading software for capital markets. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed by CSC.