Tesserent shareholders vote in favour of Thales Australia acquisition

Tesserent held a share scheme meeting today (18 September) to determine the outcome of its acquisition by Thales Australia.

Nearly 70 per cent of the company’s shareholders present or represented voted on the scheme, and more than 95 per cent of those voted in favour of the scheme arrangement as it stands, wherein Thales will acquire the entirety of the company’s shares for a price of $0.13 per share.

In addition to the buyout price resolution, all of Tesserent’s option and warrant holders were present. 100 per cent of those voted for a separate arrangement where those options are cancelled in favour of a cash payout using “an agreed payment methodology”.

“We are pleased with the endorsement of shareholders this morning in favour of moving ahead with the binding scheme with Thales Australia to acquire the business at an equity value of $176 million,” said Kurt Hansen, Tesserent’s chief executive, in a statement.

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“Tesserent’s board carefully considered and weighed up the value, certainty, timing, execution, risk, and competitiveness when forming its recommendation on the offer from Thales. We have always balanced three key priorities – the needs of our shareholders, the wellbeing and benefit of our people, and the provision of reliable cyber security services to our expansive customer base,” Hansen said.

“This transaction will accelerate our three-year growth plan as the combination of Tesserent and Thales Australia will provide rapid scale and advanced services to address cyber security needs in Australia and New Zealand, including in the government, defence and commercial sectors.”

The Federal Court of Australia will now hear an application for approval for the two schemes on 22 September, with those court orders lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on 25 September. The entitlements will be determined on 27 September, with implementation planned for 4 October.

The Thales acquisition was first proposed publically in June 2023.

David Hollingworth

David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.