Swedish provider of cloud communications for mobile customer engagement Sinch said Softbank subsidiary SB Management will own approximately 10.1 percent of the company following a share issue and sell-down by larger shareholders of existing stock. Proceeds from the issue will be used to support potential acquisitions, a strategy that has the backing of SB Management.
Sinch said it has completed an issue of nearly 3.19 million new shares, raising approximately SEK 3.3 billion. The subscription price for the new shares was SEK 1,050 each, or a discount of approximately 5 percent to the volume-weighted average share price on Nasdaq Stockholm on 30 November. The share issue was significantly oversubscribed, the company said, and a large number of Swedish and international institutional investors participated.
SB Management subscribed for 1.20 million shares in the issue. In connection with the issue and because of strong demand, larger shareholders including several co-founders have sold 5.20 million existing Sinch shares to SB Management. This means that SB Management will hold 6.40 million shares altogether, or approximately 10.1 percent of shares and votes in Sinch after the share issue and the sell-down.
Sinch will not receive any proceeds from the sell-down. It will raise approximately SEK 3.3 billion before costs from the new share issue, which it intends to use mainly to increase financial flexibility for new acquisitions. Sinch is continuously evaluating potential acquisitions, it said.
SB Management is supportive of Sinch's future growth including mergers and acquisitions. SB Management will follow the recommendations of the board of directors or independent bid committee, in the event of any public takeover offer by a third party to Sinch shareholders.
The selling shareholders in the sell-down are Cantaloupe, owned by co-founders Robert Gerstmann, Henrik Sandell, Kristian Mannik and Bjorn Zethraeus; co-founder Johan Hedberg’s Salvis Investment; Erik Froberg; and Neqst D1. The holdings of Cantaloupe and Neqst D1 will be consolidated in Neqst D2, which will hold approximately 17 percent of the shares and votes in Sinch. It will become the largest shareholding entity of Sinch, enabling a long-term ownership.
