Coms walks away as Pinnacle rejects £6.7m approach

TELECOMS firm Coms last night abandoned a takeover bid for Stirlingshire-based rival Pinnacle Technology after having a £6.7 million approach rejected as bring “opportunistic”.

Shares in Pinnacle – which surged by 24 per cent when Coms revealed its interest on Tuesday – eased yesterday after the London-based firm said it no longer intends to make an offer. Coms had considered a bid in the region of 21p per share.

The company said: “The board considers that the proposal reflects fair value for Pinnacle shareholders and, as such, without a recommendation from the board of Pinnacle, the board confirms that it has no current intention to make an offer for Pinnacle.”

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Pinnacle, led by chief executive Alan Bonner, had earlier in the day confirmed receipt of a non-binding indicative offer, which it said was “opportunistic and significantly undervalues the growth prospects of the company”.

All three members of Pinnacle’s board of directors own shares in the company, with Bonner’s stake of slightly more than 7 per cent making him the third-largest investor on the roll.

Non-executive Tom Black – the Scots-born businessman who partners Bonner in his motor-racing pursuits – owns a further 2.8 per cent stake.

Bonner also has strong ties to other investors with significant shareholdings.

Many of these individuals became investors in Pinnacle because they owned businesses Bonner has taken over in a series of paper-fuelled acquisitions over the past several years.

Pinnacle’s fourth- and sixth-largest shareholders – Darron Giddens at 6 per cent and Paul Goodland at 5.6 per cent – previously owned Accent, which Pinnacle bought in 2009.

Pinnacle is best-known for providing broadband and other data services at large events such as last year’s London Olympics, and recently signed a deal with Gamma Telecom to offer customers mobile phone services via Vodafone’s network.

Shares ended the day 1p or 4.6 per cent lower at 20.5p, having closed at 22p on Tuesday.