London- and Johannesburg-listed Datatec has increased its offer for Comztek by R4 million after completing due diligence on the distributor.
Datatec said in September that it was in talks to buy all of Comztek for R97 million. At the time of the announcement, all of Comztek's management and shareholders, apart from Mustek, indicated they were in support of the deal.
Yesterday evening, Datatec said it had completed its due diligence and had increased its offer to R101 million. The offer is open for acceptance by Mustek until Monday.
Mustek owns almost 42% of the computer distributor, a stake it acquired in 1999 when it helped Comztek's management buy out the company. The distributor was formed in September 1999 when Leen van der Bijl and current Comztek MD Paul Conradie bought out the company, then called Comzlink, from Siltek and Q Data.
Mustek founder and CEO David Kan previously indicated he would not agree to sell the 41.84% stake if Datatec made the deal conditional on factors that were outside of Mustek's control.
Cleaner offer
Datatec CFO Ivan Dittrich explains the conditions now attached to the deal are “stock standard”.
Dittrich says these include the usual regulatory approvals, as well as Comztek's suppliers agreeing to continue working with the company should the sale go ahead.
He adds that Mustek must ensure the arrangements Comztek has in place with vendors such as Microsoft are not cancelled and can be carried over to Datatec as the new parent company.
Dittrich says the conditions relating to these parental guarantees are standard in the industry, and not outside of Mustek's control. If the sale goes ahead, Datatec will pay for Comztek in cash and shares.
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