They’re South Africa’s biggest private education companies, and now one of them is vying to buy the other. JSE-listed Advtech confirmed on Wednesday morning in a statement to shareholders that Curro Holdings, also listed on the JSE, has offered to buy it.
The news comes three weeks after Advtech cautioned shareholders that it had received an “unsolicited proposal from a third party which it is obliged to consider”.
Advtech has now confirmed that the suiter is, in fact, Curro.
Both companies have fared well in recent years on the back of strong demand for private school education.
Advtech’s share price has rallied strongly in the past two weeks after beating analyst expectations for its earnings for the six months to 30 June 2015.
In a trading statement, it said it expects both basic and headline earnings per share to be between 20% and 30% higher than the same period in 2014.
This is as a result of “strong performance in all three divisions, driven by organic growth augmented by the benefits of the successfully implemented investment programme of the past few years”.
Advtech’s share price has rallied by 34% in the past 12 months, while Curro’s has risen by 28%. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media
