DataPro acquisition of @lantic two times over-subscribed

Following the announcement by AltX-listed DataPro Group that it will acquire @lantic Internet Services (Pty) Limited for R45 million, the company has announced the success of its placement of the vendor shares issued in terms of the acquisition.

According to DataPro`s financial director, James Herbst: "The company has received irrevocable commitments for 133 million shares. With only 71 million available, the placement has been significantly over-subscribed. In the final analysis this means that we could essentially offer to sell 58% of the existing company today for 52.7c. This provides evidence of the liquidity of the DataPro stock and its underlying intrinsic value and shows the positive sentiment of the market towards the company and the industry in which it operates.

"What we have done, we believe, is cause something of a stir in the tightly watched ISP market, which is currently going through a consolidation and land-grab phase - where players are looking to gain ground by the acquisition of customers," says Herbst.

Although DataPro has tended to focus on the corporate market, CEO Douglas Reed stressed that the purchase of a consumer-oriented ISP did not signal a departure from its core focus. DataPro, he says, "made a strategic decision in September last year, that it would build the business across the telecommunications space to become a fully fledged competitor to the current voice encumbent".

"At the end of the day we are a telecommunications player and we are focusing on telecommunications in a broader sense. We are consolidating our position as a strong niche player and this being seen across the whole spread of the market. We have gained more than 30 000 clients which enables us to create the economies of scale and, at the end of the day, allows us to more effectively pursue relatively greenfields markets such as voice and ADSL," said Reed.

"The fact that we have applications for 133 million shares from our placement of 71 million shows that we are doing something right; something that is essentially alluring for the marketplace in general. I believe it reflects our true value right now - and reinforces our position as the biggest independent ISP."