Peter Jones makes "full and final" offer for Expansys

Board reiterates support for improved offer valuing online retailer at £7.55m

TV Dragon Peter Jones has upped his bid for etailer Expansys for a second time but has made clear this will be his best offer for the AIM-listed outfit.

Jones increased his bid for each share he doesn't already own in Expansys to 0.65p on Thursday through his vehicle PDJ Bidco, valuing the firm at £7.55m.

Stock market rules forced Jones to

His latest offer, which is "full and final and will not be increased", represents a 40 per cent premium to Expansys' mid-market price as at the close of business on 14 January, the day before Jones made his original offer.

Adding up the shares that he, PDJ Bidco and other "concert parties" already own, plus the shares owned by investors that have already pledged their support for the move, Jones has amassed a 65.75 per cent stake in Expansys.

In a statement, Expansys reiterated its support of the bid.

"As the increased and final offer is at a higher price, the independent Expansys directors have taken further advice from N+1 Singer and will recommend unanimously the increased and final offer for acceptance by Expansys shareholders," it said.

For the six months ending 31 October 2013, Expansys made a loss of £2.4m on revenues of £60.2m as a one-off charge relating to its US SIM business hit the bottom line.

Alongside its web shop, Expansys.com, the Expansys group also includes mobile network services firm PJ Media and UK SIM Distributor Data Select Networks.