Teddy Sagi offered to buy the remaining shares of Kape Technologies Plc in a cash deal that he said would help the UK software company continue to grow “away from the scrutiny and constraint of the public markets.”
(Bloomberg) — Teddy Sagi offered to buy the remaining shares of Kape Technologies Plc in a cash deal that he said would help the UK software company continue to grow “away from the scrutiny and constraint of the public markets.”
Sagi’s Unikmind Holdings Ltd. agreed to pay $3.44, or about 285 pence, for each share in a deal that would value Kape’s equity at about $1.51 billion, the company said in a statement on Monday. That’s a 9.8% premium to Kape’s 259.50 pence closing share price on Friday.
Sagi, who already owns 54.8% of Kape, said he intends to delist the company and drive additional acquisitions. He backed its $936 million acquisition of ExpressVPN in 2021 and contributed to the company’s $220 million investment round last year. Still, Unikmind wouldn’t necessarily be willing to continue to offer backing while Kape is on the public markets, he said in the statement.
“While Unikmind supports all organic growth initiatives, it believes a continued, proactive buy-and-build strategy by Kape will remain the most promising driver of growth. It also believes that given current macroeconomic challenges and related capital markets uncertainties, the availability of potential acquisitions may be increased,” Sagi’s firm said in the statement.
Kape shares rose about 11% to 287.5 pence at 7:58 a.m. on London’s AIM market on Monday. The stock has declined 18% in the last 12 months.
The Kape board hasn’t yet made a recommendation on the offer, and urged shareholders to take no action in a separate statement on Monday. Unikmind said the talks started in December and that it has raised its initial bid of 265 pence after a round of talks that concluded on Jan. 13.
Sagi is the founder of online gaming software company Playtech Plc, and Unikmind is incorporated in the Isle of Man for the sole purpose of holding his stake in Kape, which sells privacy and security software.
(Updates with additional details about the offer throughout)
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