Reports about a possible merger were rampant this January when Matt Riley, Daisy CEO, took Daisy private with the backing of Tocscafund, also a part owner of Phoneix IT, and Penta Capital.
In a statement to the stock market, Phoenix confirmed it is “advanced discussions” with Daisy “regarding a possible recommended cash offer for the entire issued, and to be issued share capital of the company at a price of 160 pence per share”.
It added that Daisy has completed due diligence and is “well advanced with the finalisation of the necessary financing arrangements”, and the board at Phoenix is “willing” to recommend the deal to shareholders.
In line with stock market regs, Daisy must either confirm its intention to make an offer or not for Phoenix by 18 June, the 28th day following today’s statement.
According to Megabuyte this move would well place Daisy for a future off-premise world, "This frankly unsurprising move by Daisy would boost its EBITDA by an estimated 42 per cent before synergies and, more importantly, create an unparalleled £200m revenue business selling IT and telecoms services to the UK mid-market,"
"Notwithstanding the integration challenges, it would also represent the biggest convergence of telecoms and IT service provision to date in the UK, leaving Daisy well placed for an increasingly off-premise and hybrid cloud world."