2e2 buys Morse in integrator mega-merger
After weeks of speculation 2e2 seals acquisition of Morse to build European powerhouse
Shaking on it: After weeks of speculation the two firms have finally announced an agreement
Morse and 2e2 have finally announced that they have reached a £70m agreement for Morse to be acquired.
After weeks of channel speculation and rumours, the pair made a London Stock Exchange announcement this morning. The Morse Board have unanimously recommended the deal to its shareholders, which values the company at 51 pence per share, or a little less than £70m.
According to the statement, 2e2 views the acquisition as an "important strategic opportunity to create an experienced UK and European IT services provider".
The enlarged Group will provide both sets of customers with a broader range of services and solutions, including managed services, hosting, unified communications, data management, security, business application solutions and cloud computing, the statement said.
Eric Priestley, non-executive chairman of 2e2, said: “This acquisition represents a further significant step in 2e2’s operational and strategic progress. This is an excellent fit between the two companies and the acquisition consolidates 2e2’s position as one of the UK’s leading vendor-independent IT services providers. We are confident that this transaction will deliver good shareholder value.”
Kevin Loosemore, non-executive chairman of Morse, said: “Over the past 15 months, we have seen a significant recovery in Morse’s operational performance and strengthening of its balance sheet which has been reflected by an increase in Morse’s market capitalisation.
“While continuing to focus on completing the recovery in operational performance, the Board had started to explore strategic options that would significantly increase the scale of Morse's operations in order to deliver further increases in shareholder value over the medium term,” he said.
Loosemore added that the deal had been driven by 2e2, which approached the integrator and entered into discussions with the Board.
“This is an attractive offer for Morse shareholders as it recognises the continued prospects for growth in the profitability of Morse while enabling Morse shareholders to realise their investment in full. In addition, Morse shareholders are being given the opportunity to realise value from their investment in cash immediately at an attractive and significant premium to the current share price,” he said.
No details were released at this stage about what would happen to the Morse name and how Morse employees would be integrated into the new company.
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