British cellular operator Vodafone has extended the closing date of its R21 billion offer to buy the entire share capital of VenFin from 13 January to 27 January.
A Stock Exchange News Service announcement today says the last day to buy shares in order to participate in the offer will now be 20 January and the results of the offer will be made available on 30 January.
Vodafone`s offer is aimed at giving it a 50% stake in local network operator Vodacom through the purchase of VenFin`s holding of 15%.
Vodafone will buy the entire VenFin holding, keep the Vodacom stake, and sell the remainder to the Rupert Trust for R5 billion, an effective discount of R1.9 billion. The VenFin board has recommended the deal to the shareholders.
The announcement only changes the dates and nothing material in terms of the deal, says Daniel Malan, an investment analyst at Regarding Capital Management.
"Obviously they realised this is a quiet time and many people are away and so are probably doing them a favour by just extending the date," he says.
VenFin shares were last seen trading steady at R47.40.
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