LiveHire director backs Humanforce all-cash takeover bid as final and best offer
An independent director of recruitment platform LiveHire (ASX: LVH) has recommended shareholders accept a takeover bid by unlisted Australian company Humanforce Holdings.
Humanforce holds an 87.76% interest in LiveHire – equating to approximately 408.3 million shares – and made an initial on-market bid for the remaining equity, priced at $0.045 per share, in August.
That offer closed on 11 October and was quickly followed by the current bid at the same price.
On-market purchase
Humanforce has advised that it will immediately commence buying LiveHire shares on-market and, once it has secured 90% of the shares, it will proceed with a compulsory acquisition and arrange for LiveHire to be delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange.
Humanforce’s bid is unconditional and provides shareholders with a simple cash exit from their investment, which will deliver immediate value.
The offer price represents a 15.38% premium to LiveHire’s entitlement offer completed on 21 November, as well as a 62.2% premium to the seven-day volume-weighted average price of LiveHire shares, a 52.9% premium to the 14-day VWAP and a 66.67% premium to the $0.027 closing price on 22 November.
All-cash offer
LiveHire director Andrew Rutherford has recommended shareholders accept the all-cash offer, which he believes to be Humanforce’s best and final bid.
Mr Rutherford also said it was “highly unlikely” a competing bid would emerge as Humanforce has majority control of LiveHire.
“This offer provides an important liquidity opportunity for LiveHire shareholders and by not accepting it, [they] risk remaining as minority shareholders in an entity controlled by Humanforce,” he said.
SaaS platform
Established in 2002, Humanforce operates a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform providing workforce management solutions and has subsidiaries in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.
It is a portfolio company of US private equity firm Accel-KKR Growth Capital Partners and claims it has the capital, expertise and relationships to help LiveHire scale faster and more profitably.
Accel-KKR managing director Joe Porten said the LiveHire acquisition would be a good fit for Humanforce.
“With LiveHire’s market-leading artificial intelligence-powered talent solutions, Humanforce will now have the capability to seamlessly connect the flow of the world’s talent with the growth, productivity and efficiency objectives of frontline and flexible workforces,” he said.