Advtech has rejected rival Curro’s newest “offer”, telling its rival that its latest correspondence has not changed materially from a previous approach and therefore doesn’t warrant further consideration.

And in a sign of rising tensions between the companies, Advtech said in a statement to shareholders, published on the JSE’s Sens news service: “Advtech remains of the view that it is inappropriate to use the medium of Sens to comment on the several allegations made by Curro which are factually incorrect, untrue and misleading.”

Curro said on Wednesday that it has been in discussions with Advtech management since early April. This, it said, led to a firm expression of interest by Curro, which was submitted to the CEO and chairman at the end of April.

Curro said it later approached Advtech’s largest shareholders, and determined that they were willing to accept R13 per Advtech share.

In a further statement, issued on Thursday, Curro said it had resubmitted a “conditional firm intention offer” to Advtech’s board containing similar terms, including a 50% cash underpin for Advtech shareholders not wanting to accept Curro shares.

“This means that minority shareholders will likely be able to receive 100% cash, as many of the major Advtech shareholders have indicated a preference for Curro shares,” the company said.

Later on Thursday, Advtech again spurned Curro’s advances. It said the latest letter from Curro “does not constitute a firm intention, as defined in the Companies Act, to make an offer and is substantially similar to the proposal contained in the previously received draft unsigned letter which was already considered by the board of directors of Advtech and its advisors.

“The Advtech board, through an independent subcommittee, its advisors and the company’s management, had spent a considerable amount of time in discussion with Curro management and their advisors regarding the merits of the proposal. Shareholders were previously advised that the Advtech board had unanimously resolved that the proposal is not in the best interests of the company and will therefore not pursue further discussions with Curro…”