E-Channelling majority shareholder accepts Mobitel’s voluntary offer

The majority shareholder of E-Channelling PLC, Senior Marketing System Asia (Pte) Limited, said it had accepted the voluntary offer made by Mobitel Private Limited to purchase its shareholding in the country’s first doctor channelling platform.

Senior Marketing holds an 87.59 percent stake in E-Channelling PLC. Mobitel, the mobile arm of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, a couple of weeks ago announced a voluntary offer to acquire all the shares of E-Channelling PLC.

Mobitel also announced it had reached a share sale and purchase agreement with Senior Marketing to acquire its holding of 107 million E-Channelling shares, representing 87.59 percent, at a price of Rs.6 per share.

E-Channelling has 122.1 million shares in issue. NDB Investment Bank has been appointed as the manager to the voluntary issue.

Since it is a voluntary offer, both the buying and selling parties could avoid brokerage fees, unlike in the case of carrying out the transaction through a crossing and subsequent mandatory offer.Mobitel’s competitor in the mobile telephony market, Dialog Axiata PLC, operates the other doctor channelling platform in the country in partnership with the Softlogic group’s Asiri Hospitals, which is currently in an expansion mode.