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Telus of Canada suddenly backs out of an $830 million deal to buy Australia’s Appen.

(Reuters) -Telus (NYSE: TU) International, a Canadian data analytics software company, made an offer to buy out its Australian rival Appen Ltd. for A $1.2 billion ($830 million), but then withdrew it.Appen said this on Thursday.

“Telus told us they were getting rid of their Indicative Proposal. They didn’t say why, “the Australian person who sold software said.

When Telus was asked what they thought about the proposal being pulled, they didn’t answer right away.

On Thursday, trading in Appen’s shares was stopped because they had risen by more than 29% to A$8.27, which was less than the indicative offer price of A$9.50 per share. Investors were preparing for a possible buyout, even if it came from another company, but they were also prepared for the talks to fail.

In its most recent statement, the Australian company said, “Appen worked with Telus in good faith to better understand the proposal’s terms and to come to an agreement on a proper confidentiality and standstill agreement.”

Appen had said in a previous statement that it would talk to Telus to try to get a better offer.

A deal would have helped the Canadian company expand its services at a time when corporate clients around the world are moving to automate many services for customers who have moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It would have also given Appen shareholders a chance to get back some of the money they lost on their investments since February, when its biggest customer, Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), said that its advertising revenue had dropped because Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) computers and phones now have stricter privacy controls.

Citi analysts wrote in a note, “While we do see the potential for substantial synergies, we see Appen as being in a weaker position to get Telus International to make a higher bid.”

“There is room for another suitor, especially one that can compete with Telus,” they said.

Appen also said in a short update on its business that it expected its first-half profit to be much lower than last year, but that it expected earnings to go up in the second half.

The company sells automation software, such as programs that help companies like Facebook collect user data. Earlier this year, for the first time since going public with an issue price of 50 cents in 2015, the company changed its outlook.

(1 dollar equals 1.4096 Australian dollars)

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