Rival telecoms firm eyes £6.7m bid for Pinnacle

Shares in Pinnacle Technology, the Stirlingshire-based telecoms group, surged 24 per cent today after a rival revealed it was mulling a £6.7 million takeover approach.

London-based Coms, which specialises in delivering telephone calls over the internet, said it was considering a “possible corporate transaction with Pinnacle” that could lead to it making an offer of around 21p a share.

Coms said talks with its fellow Aim-quoted company were at a very early stage and “there can be no certainty that any transaction or offer for Pinnacle will ultimately be forthcoming”.

Under City rules, the firm has until the end of the month to either make an offer or walk away.

Pinnacle, headed by chief executive Alan Bonner, is best known for providing broadband and other data services at large events such as last year’s London Olympics and BBC Radio 1’s “big weekend” concerts. It recently signed a deal with Gamma Telecom to offer customers mobile phone services via Vodafone’s network.

In February, the group completed its largest-ever fundraising as it sought to “transform” its balance sheet. More than 883 million shares were issued to investors in an oversubscribed placing that raised £2.7m before expenses.

Bonner last month bought 28,000 shares in the firm, taking his total holding to about 7.1 per cent.

Pinnacle today appointed N+1 Singer as its new nominated adviser and broker, ending its five-year relationship with Zeus Capital. Its shares closed up 4.25p at 22p.