Netcomm Wireless says it will today apply to the Federal Court for orders of approval for the scheme of arrangement under which Casa Systems of the USA will acquire all shares in the former innovative Australian company.
It will also apply to have its shares suspended from trading on the ASX effective from the close of trading this afternoon.
This follows Tuesday’s shareholder meeting, chaired by company chairman Justin Milne, which voted 60-40 to accept the Casa bid of $1.10 per share — but not before the gathering was treated to some hefty opposition arguments, led by the highly regarded Gary (“Nine Holes”) Jackson, former CEO of Microsoft Australia, a leading executive over the years at the likes of Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Sungard and quite a few others, and a onetime Maserati owner and — of course — golfing enthusiast.
Gary “Nine Holes” Jackson
Said Jackson, facing Milne: “I am the loyal shareholder who you brought into the Netcomm dream a long time ago … I believed in the product you were creating. I believed in the Netcomm people who were creating these products. I believed in the management driving the company. And I believed in the board and the chairman.
“But it’s not like that anymore. Things have changed … You’ve sold us out to Casa for a paltry $1.10. You’ve sold us out to the large mercenary institutions who have now come in and taken an interest in NetComm, not for the ground-breaking research, not for their faith in you, not for their belief in the company – but for a guaranteed 2¢ return over two months to get a guaranteed $1.10 from an overseas company.”
