Daisy Group recommends £494m offer from CEO-led consortium

AIM-listed telecoms company Daisy Group has reached an agreement on a recommended cash offer of just under half a billion pounds from a consortium of investors including its boss Matthew Riley.

The consortium, comprising chief executive and founder Riley who'd established Daisy in 2001, Toscafund Asset Management and Penta Capital, have offered 185p a share for the company.

The offer values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Daisy at £494m, equal to 11 times adjusted operating profits.

This was less than the 190p preliminary bid made in August, but is still 16.4% premium to its closing price on 25 July, the day before the consortium's initial approach.

Daisy, which provides business communications services, said its board consider the terms of the offer to be "fair and reasonable".

In a statement, Riley said: "The offer provides Daisy shareholders with a cash premium today and represents a positive development for our 59,000 customers and continuity for our 1,500 employees.

"It also positions the company for its next phase of growth in the UK telecoms and IT sector, with the backing and strategic and financial guidance of Toscafund and Penta."