Webjet shares soar on $353m Helloworld acquisition offer
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More news: Shares in online travel agency Webjet have jumped after receiving a $353 million acquisition offer from rival Helloworld.
At 12:57am AEDT shares in Webjet had lifted 17.22% to 88 cents each. Helloworld shares had lifted 2.3% to $1.79.
Helloworld’s non-binding indicative offer for Webjet shares it does not already own is worth 90 cents each.
Helloworld said this represents a 19% premium on Webjet’s last close price of 75.5 cents per share on 18 November. It is also a 54% premium to Webjet’s undisturbed one-month volume weighted average price of 58 cents per share on 7 May, before speculation of an undisclosed buyer.
A previous 80 cents per share offer made by BGH Capital in May was ultimately rejected by the Webjet board.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen said he expects Helloworld’s “offer could result in a revisited offer”. RBC’s price target for Webjet is $1.10 “which does not factor any premium for control”.
Chen estimated that the Helloworld offer reflects a proposed payment of $292.3 million for the Webjet shares it did not already own and is expected to be paid in “combination of cash and new debt facilities”. He noted that Helloworld had $79.4 million of net cash as at FY25 of which $18.5 million was restricted.
What they said: “A surprise bid from HLO on results day for WJL. The company has now received two non-binding indicative bids in the space of six months. Importantly, this bid comes despite WJL downgrading FY26 earnings expectations,” Chen said.
Webjet gets acquisition offer from Helloworld worth $353m
The news: Online travel agency Webjet has received an all-cash non-binding indicative offer from rival Helloworld that has an implied equity value of about $353.3 million as Webjet confirms first-half EBITDA fell 7%.
The numbers: Helloworld is offering to buy all shares in Webjet it doesn’t already own for 90 cents each via scheme of arrangement.
Based on Webjet having 392,530,357 shares on issue, the offer gives the travel agency an implied equity value of about $353.3 million. Helloworld already holds 17.27% in Webjet, which is 67,792,433 shares.
The company also released its first-half earnings which confirm that statutory EBITDA fell by 7% year on year to $11.7 million as flagged in preliminary unaudited results.
The company declared its inaugural FY26 interim dividend of 2 cents per share fully franked and represents a 100% payout of underlying net profit after tax.
The context: Helloworld has been steadily increasing its stake in Webjet throughout the year. The Webjet board has agreed to give Helloworld the opportunity to undertake due diligence.
The takeover proposal is subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence, entry into a scheme of implementation deed, required regulatory approvals as well as court and Webjet shareholder approval.
