From Advtech:
The Board of ADvTECH today announced that it has reached a unanimous decision not to take forward the conditional proposal it received from Curro.
“Having spent a considerable amount of time evaluating the proposal and following protracted discussions with Curro and its advisors, ADvTECH’s Board has unanimously concluded it is not in the best interests of the company to take this forward. We can now return our full attention to implementing the group’s exciting growth strategy which is showing excellent results already,” said Chris Boulle, ADvTECH’s lead independent director.
Accordingly ADvTECH has ended discussions with Curro and informed shareholders that the cautionary statements issued on 25th June and 15th July are withdrawn.
Mr Boulle said that in line with the board’s fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company, it would consider any substantive proposal based on whether it would, inter alia:
- Secure sustainable value for the company and all its stakeholders
- Maintain the integrity and reputation of its education brands
- Ensure support for the business model and growth strategy
- Have acceptable implementation risk
Giving further detail on ADvTECH’s decision, CEO Frank Thompson said: “The draft proposal received was not a firm offer as it was hedged with a number of unacceptable pre-conditions including the furnishing of confidential information to a competitor. It could also have led to a situation where ADvTECH was unable to pursue its exciting growth strategy for a protracted period while waiting for implementation of the proposed transaction, which the board considered unlikely to succeed. ”
