ASX-listed mining company Lanka Graphite has dropped its bid to acquire no-frills reseller MSY, citing delays in the process and more easily-achievable acquisition targets.
In an ASX announcement, Lanka said MSY agreed to terminate the $17 million acquisition bid, with Lanka agreeing to instead acquire bio-pharmaceutical company Oculus Biomed for $12 million.
“Due to further delays experienced in the MSY acquisition process, [Lanka Graphite] has served a notice of termination on MSY and has received MSY’s acknowledgement and agreement to formally terminate the said share purchase agreement, effective immediately,” the announcement read.
“Termination of [the] MSY acquisition would enable [Lanka Graphite] to explore other acquisition opportunities.”
The update comes just days after Lanka Graphite declared that it conducted no mining exploration activities in one of the quarters of FY 18/19 to demonstrate it was done with digging graphite and is genuine about getting into the tech business.
Lanka Graphite first announced its plans to acquire MSY in August 2018 as it planned to exit the mining business and pivot to e-commerce.
The collapse of the deal leaves MSY in private hands, with a recently-refreshed but crude e-commerce experience compared to rivals Mwave and Scorptec, and the mass-market dominated by the combined JB Hi-Fi/Good Guys juggernaut. Listing would not necessarily have eased any of those challenges, but other potential investors now have reason to question whether a further approach to MSY is sensible.
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