Tender Offer of BusinessOn Communications by Skylake Equity Partners

• On 12 August, Skylake Equity Partners announced a tender offer of 6.58 million shares (28.9% stake) of BusinessOn Communication. The tender offer price is 15,849 won.

• BusinessOn is one of the leading digital tax invoice software providers in Korea. It also provides digital contracts, market intelligence, banner advertising, and supply chain management services.

• Skylake plans to purchase all of the shares subscribed in this deal, regardless of the subscription rate. If the public offering target quantity is successful, Skylake plans to delist BusinessOn.

On 12 August, Skylake Equity Partners (a local private equity firm in Korea) announced a tender offer of 6.58 million shares (28.9% stake, fully diluted basis) of BusinessOn Communication (138580 KS).

The tender offer price is 15,849 won (8% higher than its closing price on Friday, 9 August). BusinessOn's share price is up 7.2% today (12 August) to 15,720 won. BusinessOn currently has a market cap of 355 billion won. On 12 August, 2.9 million shares traded for BusinessOn, 21x higher than the previous trading day (9 August).

The expected amount involved in the tender offer is 104 billion won (including employees stock options but not treasury shares). NH Investment & Securities is the lead banker in this deal. This tender offer comes about a month after Skylake Equity Partners agreed to purchase a 70.7% sake in BusinessOn Communications. If Skylake is successful in this tender offer, it will own nearly 100% stake in BusinessOn and Skylake plans to take the company private.

BusinessOn is one of the leading digital tax invoice software providers in Korea. The company also provides digital contracts, market intelligence, banner advertising, approval of purchase issuing and supply chain management services.

The tender offer period is from 12 August to 2 September. Skylake plans to purchase all of the shares subscribed during the public offering period, regardless of the subscription rate. If the public offering target quantity is successful, approximately 99.59% (22,638,049 shares) will be secured and delisted.

In July 2024, Skylake signed a a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with Praxis Capital Partners (including individual shareholders' stake) to acquire a 70.5% stake (16.06 million shares) in BusinessOn for 254.5 billion won (15,850 won per share).

BusinessOn Communications tender offer details (Source: dart.fss.or.kr)