Ann: Trading Halt, page-7

ASX-listed telco equipment provider NetComm Wireless’s $161 million tie-up with US suitor Casa Systems has suffered some last minute hiccups, with the company pushing back the meeting in which its shareholders will vote on the deal.

The shareholder meeting, originally scheduled for Friday, has been pushed back to June 20.

Chaired by former ABC chair Justin Milne, NetComm will still provide more information to shareholders on Friday.

The last minute spanner in the works comes after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) asked NetComm’s management to reiterate its rationale for backing Casa’s $1.10 a share a bid.

The Australian understands that a delay in getting the necessary court approval has prevented NetComm from getting the information through to its shareholders.

The company said it was best to give shareholders more time to digest the information before deciding on Casa’s bid.

“This will enable the shareholders of NetComm to consider the supplementary disclosure that NetComm proposes to make in response to matters raised by some NetComm shareholders and ASIC,” it said.

Casa’s offer has already received the blessing of the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). While it has been strongly backed by NetComm’s management, there is a small pocket of disgruntled shareholders opposing the deal.

In a market dominated by global giants like Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei, as an Australian-based network hardware maker NetComm is a rarity. NetComm’s kit is used in fixed-wireless broadband networks, with the company’s technology used in the fixed-wireless portion of the National Broadband Network.

It was seen as a potential takeover target last year after enduring a volatile ride as a listed company over much of 2017 and 2018, with its shares falling from a peak of $3.18 in April 2016 to 78c in December 2018.

The Casa acquisition, according to NetComm’s recently appointed CEO Steve Collins, will help open more doors for the company’s equipment globally.

Earlier on Thursday, NetComm was forced to retract a report delivered by proxy advisers CGI Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services on the Casa bid.

The takeover target last month told the market, in a release dated May 29, that both CGI Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had recommended that NetComm shareholders vote in favour of the deal.

However, the company told shareholders on Thursday to ignore the recommendations of the proxy advisers, citing that the reasons behind their support for the Casa deal were not clearly explained to shareholders in the May 29 release.