Audioboom's shares rocket on takeover talks

Shares in Audioboom soared today after All Active Asset Capital announced it was in “constructive discussions” about a possible offer for the podcasting platform.

The AIM-listed technology investor announced it had already secured the support of shareholders owning 26.4% of the company’s issued share capital.

The proposed terms would value each Audioboom share at £12, representing a 35.6% premium over the closing mid-market price of 885p at the end of last Friday’s trading.

The news went down well with Audioboom’s share price having increased 8.7% to 962.2p by lunchtime on the London markets.

A “compelling portfolio”

In a statement, All Active Asset Capital said: “The directors believe the combination of AAA and Audioboom would create a compelling portfolio of innovative, high growth technology investments that could create significant new accretive value for the shareholders of both companies in the future.”

In accordance with takeover rules, AAA has until 5pm on 16 August to announce whether or not it intends to make an offer for Audioboom.

This deadline can be extended with the consent of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers

Allenby Capital Limited, which was nominated adviser to both AAA and Audioboom, has resigned from its role with AAA due to the conflict of interest.

Investment opportunities

All Active Asset Capital, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), actively seeks investment opportunities within global technology, software and artificial intelligence.

The company’s shares had slipped 0.93% to 53p by lunchtime on the London markets.

Audioboom Group, meanwhile, is a leading name in the podcasting world, with its shows downloaded more than 90m times each month by 25m unique listeners around the world.

Its key partners included ‘True Crime Obsessed’ and ‘The Morning Toast’ from the United States, as well as ‘No such Thing As A Fish’ and ‘The Cycling Podcast’ from the UK.

Transformational plans

Earlier this month, AAA announced “a number of inter-connected matters” that the directors believe will turn it into a global technology investment company.

These conditional proposals included placings of new AAA shares to raise £150m at 80p per share, and cancelling the admission of its shares to trading on AIM.

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