Alex Waislitz to vote down Iress OneVue bid
Billionaire Alex Waislitz has attacked Grant Thornton for its decision to declare fair and reasonable a $107m takeover offer for listed fintech OneVue.
Billionaire investor Alex Waislitz has attacked advisory firm Grant Thornton for its decision to declare fair and reasonable a $107m takeover offer for listed fintech OneVue, confirming his stable of Thorney companies will vote against the bid at a meeting of shareholders next month.
In June OneVue received the 40 cent per share takeover offer from global software firm Iress and in early September the offer was declared fair and reasonable by the independent expert, Grant Thornton Corporate Finance.
OneVue has also recommended shareholders approve the deal.
But Mr Waistliz, who between his private Thorney Group and his listed Thorney Opportunities and Thorney Technology companies owns 18.25 per cent of OneVue after increasing their stakes in recent months, said he still believed the offer undervalued the fintech firm.
“We have seen the independent experts’ report and we think there are many weaknesses in that report,’’ Mr Waislitz told a forum for Thorney Opportunities investors on Wednesday.
“The simplest methodology of looking at what is value for this company is looking at the sum of the parts valuation. That is the value of the two divisions, adjusting for corporate expenses (and taking appropriate discounts) … We are very disappointed the independent expert did not do that.”
He said such a valuation showed OneVue was well positioned relative to other listed and unlisted companies in its sector.
“Sometimes there is a problem in a division or an aspect of a business that tends to get more significance than what is happening operationally. The two business streams of OneVue actually both reported record results in the last quarter,’’ Mr Waislitz said.
“We believe that the bid from Iress is significantly undervalued and in the current form we will be voting no to the current offer.”
The scheme meeting will be held on October 9.
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