Who said the fleet industry wasn’t exciting? Hot on the heels of the SG Fleet acquisition of LeasePlan ANZ, a Consortium, which mentioned Aware Super Pty Ltd, has made an indicative, non-binding and conditional proposal to acquire 100% of Smartgroup.
The offer is $10.35 per share which is a significant premium on the closing price prior to the offer.
In August, FAN reported that Smartgroup was building a foundation for future growth after the pandemic years that saw things stabilise.
The business has extended some significant contracts and secured recurring income from salary packaging despite the disruption to vehicle deliveries and revenue from novated leasing.
The three key strategic priorities of the Smart Future program are optimising customer experience, enhancing digital platforms and streamlining operations. This includes, amongst other projects, redesigning client and customer portals, migrating to cloud infrastructure and software, investing in business automation and enhancing data analytics capability. The program will take three years to deliver, with an estimated spend of $5-$6 million per annum.
The Board of Smartgroup has determined that it is in the interests of Smartgroup Shareholders to grant the Consortium a period of four weeks from opening the data room over the next week to conduct due diligence on an exclusive basis to establish whether an acceptable binding transaction can be agreed.
Based on current information, the Board intends to unanimously recommend that Shareholders vote in favour of the Proposal, subject to entry into an acceptable Scheme Implementation Deed, no superior proposal being received and an Independent Expert concluding (and continuing to conclude) that the Proposal is in the best interests of Smartgroup Shareholders.
