Riding the storm
Firstly, it combines two well-respected aspirant alternative telco operators, although Vox is further down the line than Storm in terms of sheer scale. But, putting them together gives both a leg up towards that goal.
The deal also brings bright people together. Storm CEO Willem van Rensburg joined from Business Connexion and is highly respected in his field. He's a good addition to the Vox team.
But, one thing that leaves a slightly bitter taste about the deal is that the news was not a secret to the market. Despite Finweek hearing speculation of the acquisition at least a week before its announcement on Sens, and ITWeb pipping us to the post in reporting this, the news was not made public until days later.
Perhaps the discussions had been held, but the final details had not yet been agreed upon?
Chairman Tony van Marken said the company had not been in a position to announce the deal yet, because no agreement had been signed. It had feared the story could have jeopardised the deal.
Van Rensburg had told Finweek days after the ITWeb article a similar thing before the deal was announced; that he could not comment, save to say that no agreement had been signed between the two companies. He did not, however, deny that the parties had been talking.
However, there is currently a lot of consolidation happening in this market, so it is understood that many companies have been talking to each other to explore the possibilities.
Interestingly though, the valuation that had been rumoured that Vox would pay for Storm was very close to the price that it will pay; R360m compared to the R350m that had been suggested. So the leak was, at least, a good one. And the deal was done regardless.
Vox had been trading under cautionary since 16 August.
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