Checkit Sets 30p Floor as It Aims to Wrap Up Sale Process

Checkit (LON: CKT), the Cambridge-based provider of predictive-operations software for facilities and multi-site operators, said today it will not entertain takeover proposals below 30p a share and expects to conclude its sale process within weeks. Shares rose as much as 4.8% in early trade.

The AIM-listed stock traded at 22p versus a 21p previous close, having ranged between 21.1p and 24p intraday. That leaves shares well inside their 52-week range of 12.35p to 27p, with the current level roughly 27% below the board’s 30p floor. The company’s market capitalisation stands at approximately £22.8 million.

Checkit launched its Formal Sale Process, a structured, Takeover Panel-recognised route that lets a company solicit multiple offers without starting a formal takeover clock, on 26 March. In an update this morning, it said several financial and strategic acquirers had since carried out due diligence and tabled non-binding indicative proposals, all above the share price before the process began, though none has met the board’s 30p threshold. The board now intends to bring the process to a head around 30 September, when interim results are due, either with a recommendable offer or by ending the process altogether.

At 22p, the shares remain roughly 27% below the board’s 30p floor, a gap that reflects the proposals received so far falling short of that threshold and the process remaining non-binding. Singer Capital Markets Advisory LLP, Checkit’s financial adviser, Nominated Adviser and broker, continues to advise the board alongside EC M&A, which is running the sale process. There is no certainty that any offer will be made or that a sale will complete.

Shareholders now have a fixed floor and a fixed deadline against which to weigh the current price.