An unnamed company has made a firm offer to acquire Wireless Business Solutions (WBS), the parent company of iBurst and Broadlink.
WBS nonexecutive director David Hilewitz on Monday confirmed that an offer has been tabled, but declined to name the acquiring party, saying he is bound by a confidentiality agreement.
A number of conditions precedent have to be overcome before the deal is consummated, according to Hilewitz. A final due diligence is being performed.
Various authorities, including communications regulator Icasa and the Competition Commission, must also give the deal the thumbs up, he told TechCentral. Although Hilewitz is barred from saying which company has offered to buy WBS, he will confirm that it is not one of the large telecommunications operators. The acquirer is, however, South African, he said.
WBS’s shareholders include Blue Label Telecoms co-CEOs Brett and Mark Levy, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Investec Bank, the Public Investment Corp and former WBS CEO Thami Mtshali.
Mtshali stepped down in August, with financial director Clinton Holroyd being named acting CEO. He remains a nonexecutive director of the company. He resigned as CEO “on good terms”, according to Hilewitz.
Meanwhile, WBS has also settled outstanding radio spectrum leasing fees it owed Icasa and has done so in full. It’s understood the payments were made to allow for the sale of the business.
In recent years, both MTN and Dimension Data have been linked to a potential acquisition of WBS.
WBS has access to a range of spectrum that would prove valuable to a wireless broadband operator.
In particular, it has access to spectrum in the 1,8GHz band that is ideally suited to building next-generation wireless broadband networks using 4G/LTE technology.
“Definitely, certain of our spectrum has value,” said Hilewitz. “As for what the purchaser wants with it, I don’t know.” — © 2014 NewsCentral Media
