[AusNOG] News: Superloop to buy BigAir

[Skeeve Stevens]

Very interesting to see what this new combined entity does.

...Skeeve


*From Commsday Issue 5215 - 14 September 2016*

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*Superloop to buy BigAir to create gigabit bypass to NBN*

Bevan Slattery’s Superloop has made a bid for outright control of fixed
wireless and managed services specialist BigAir.

The combined entity will overtly pitch as a wholesale and retail
alternative to the NBN across corporate, campus, metro and regional markets.

In an announcement
<http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160913/pdf/43b4zgrbn39thy.pdf> to the ASX
last night, Superloop said it had entered into a “scheme implementation
deed” to acquire 100% of BigAir’s shares subject to the latter’s
shareholder and other approvals. The complex offer sees Superloop
earmarking $140m of cash to complete the transaction and pay off debt. The
overall transaction will result in a combined firm with equity of around
$300m.

In a prepared statement, Slattery said the wireless capabilities of BigAir
would allow Superloop to offer gigabit end user services over its fibre
network.

BigAir founding CEO Jason Ashton said the opportunity of working with
Superloop was “transformational.” About 10% of BigAir shares have already
been pledged to Superloop by key stakeholders.

Superloop’s disclosure to the ASX intimated that the combined company would
scale nationally to offer a low-cost “gigabit wireless” alternative to the
NBN.

It said: “BigAir is a strong strategic fit with Superloop. The Proposed
Acquisition fundamentally enhances opportunities for Superloop’s fibre
business, allowing Superloop to accelerate the rollout of fibre across
Australia.”

In a slidedeck
<http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160913/pdf/43b4zldgc8xpl0.pdf> lodged with
the ASX last night, Superloop said “The acquisition provides the critical
mass to scale Superloop’s Australian footprint into enterprise buildings,
at low cost due to BigAir’s presence in high quality towers in close
proximity to Superloop fibre.” It explained further that “BigAir’s “fibre
extender” millimetre wireless solution for 1km-4km services is to be
combined with Superloop’s fibre backbone to deliver a low cost
Gigabit+access alternative.”

“This allows customers to avoid NBN CVC charges and the combined company
will be able to provide an offering which scales and allows customers
low-latency, low-cost access to managed service offerings including hosted
PBX, managed firewall, corporate VPN and hosted private and public cloud.”

“BigAir will focus on the wholesale last mile wireless access market.
Leveraging Superloop’s fibre assets and BigAir’s existing wireless network
and capabilities, we will deliver wholesale providers a high-speed NBN
alternative in outer metro and regional Australia.”

BigAir currently operates a fixed wireless network with about 1,300 mainly
corporate clients via 300 POPs in 60 locations including key central
rooftops across Australia. It also has a campus broadband offering reaching
35,000 “beds” at 160 locations. In Australia, Superloop operates fibre
rings spanning CBDs and key data centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Superloop is offering two acquisition options: one based entirely on
Superloop for BigAir shares, the other on a mix of cash—capped at $95m— and
shares. Superloop made a $65m placement last night to investors and renewed
a $75m debt facility to help fund the transaction.

The BigAir offer values the company at between 34% to 43% higher than its
recent market capitalisation.

Superloop’s existing shareholders will own between 69% and 82% of the
combined company, with Slattery’s holding reducing from 45% to 27%-35%.

The transaction is expected to be completed in late 2016.

Grahame Lynch

=========================

...Skeeve

*Skeeve Stevens - Founder & The Architect* - eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
Email: skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; Web: eintellegonetworks.com

Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; Skype: skeeve ; LinkedIn: /in/skeeve
<http://linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ; Expert360: Profile
<https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9> ; Keybase: https://keybase.io/skeeve
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