Aussie Broadband buys Symbio for $258.9 million

ASX-listed Aussie Broadband (ABB) has pipped telco Superloop to the post, and bought unified communications as a service (UCaas) vendor Symbio.

Under a Scheme Implementation Agreement, Symbio shareholders will get $2.26 in cash, and 0.192 ABB shares for each share in the Sydney UCaaS vendor.

ABB's total consideration of $3.01 per Symbio share values the UCaaS vendor at $258.89 million.

Symbio's board uninamously recommended that the company's shareholders vote in favour of the deal, which is subject to their majority approval, and that of the Federal Court of Australia among others.

Under the agreement, ABB and Symbio expect the deal to be completed by mid-February next year.

The deal comes after ASX listed telco Superloop put $243 million on the table for Symbio in August this year.

At the time, Superloop chief executive Paul Tyler called the combination of the telco and Symbio "highly accretive".

In September this year, Superloop put in a best and final offer for Symbio, valued slightly higher than the original August one, at $250.29 million.

Superloop said it would not improve the September offer, and soon after in October, Aussie Broadband stepped in with a higher bid that has now won the day for the internet provider.

In 2021, MNF Holdings rebranded as Symbio, and focused on South East Asian expansion.