Shares of Surfstitch Group Ltd (ASX: SRF) have spiked more than 14% today after the online surf wear company revealed it had received a $0.20 per share takeover offer from Coastalwatch Pty Ltd.
Although the board has rejected the offer, the company did note that a number of other parties have shown interest in the business, although none of the discussions are at an advanced stage yet.
It appears this statement has given some investors hope that another offer might be in the making as the shares are currently trading near the rejected takeover price of 20 cents per share.
As highlighted by the chart below, however, this is still a far cry from the $2+ levels they were trading at 12 months ago.
In an interesting twist, Coastalwatch already owns 10.4% of Surfstitch shares, but it is also one of the primary parties that is suing the company for allegedly breaching commercial agreements that were entered into last financial year.
The fact that Coastalwatch continues to pursue legal action against Surfstitch is one of the principal reasons why the board has rejected the offer. The board also believes the 20 cent per share offer does not reflect an appropriate premium for securing control of the company.
As part of the broader update, Surfstitch also announced that it has commenced stage 2 of its strategic review where it will continue to focus on cost cutting and a new strategic direction.
Although today's update might be welcome news for some shareholders, it still won't make up for the disastrous performance of the business over the past 12 months. During this short time investors have had to endure the departure of its founder and former CEO, profit downgrades, asset writedowns and a cash balance that has vanished rapidly.
