Kape Technologies gets £1.25bn takeover offer from shareholder Teddy Sagi

Kape Technologies said on Monday that it has received a $1.51bn (£1.25bn) takeover offer from its largest shareholder, Teddy Sagi.

The $3.44 or 285p a share offer for the shares it does not already own was made by Unikmind Holdings, which is wholly-owned by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi. The businessman, who also founded gambling software company Playtech, already has a 55% stake in Kape.

The offer price represents a 9.7% premium to Kape's closing share price of 260p on Friday.

Unikmind first approached the company on 9 December 2022, proposing to offer 265p a share. This was rejected on the basis that it offered "insufficient value to shareholders".

The revised 285p a share proposal was made on 13 January 2023 and Unikmind said it was planning to seek a delisting from AIM regardless of the outcome of the offer.

As it stands, Unikmind is unable to buy further shares in Kape until the end of March or the full-year 2022 results, after it was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement in December. However, Kape is pushing for Unikmind to be released from that agreement so that the latest offer can be put to shareholders.

"After consultation with shareholders, the independent directors will write to Kape shareholders with their views on the offer in due course. In the meantime, shareholders are urged to take no action," the company said.

Unikmind said in a statement that it now believes the most appropriate way to support Kape in its buy-and-build strategy is through long-term capital investment conducted away from public markets.

Sagi said: "The last decade has witnessed the rapid growth of digital services with the expansion of e-commerce. Kape has, with our support as the majority shareholder, transformed through several strategic acquisitions, into a truly global leader in the digital privacy and security space. Having weighed the pros and cons of a public listing under the current macro uncertainties and thin stock market trading as well as new growth avenues, we are firm in our view that Kape's next chapter in its corporate journey should be within the private arena.

"We are committed to Kape's further growth within our group of companies, enabling it to exploit operational synergies and to access capital for its continuous growth, especially as the convergence of technologies is gaining momentum. Recognising that not all Kape Shareholders may wish to continue with us in a non-listed Kape, our cash offer represents a compelling proposition for fellow shareholders to realise their investment."

At 1335 GMT, the shares were up 12.5% at 292p.