Rotala is set to complete its move into private ownership on 17 January after receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals via an acceleration of that process.
On 15 January, the Court of Justice in England and Wales made an order sanctioning the sale, which will see Rotala PLC delisted from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and transfer to the ownership of new entity Rotala Group.
Rotala Group is directly owned and controlled by current Rotala PLC CEO Simon Dunn, Managing Director – North West Bob Dunn, and Non-Executive Chairman John Gunn, along with two of their spouses and a personal pension plan of one of those individuals.
Completion of the purchase, which was first revealed in September 2023, had previously been expected towards the end of January, but earlier this month an opportunity to bring forward the necessary court hearing to sanction its completion was secured.
Rotala Group will purchase the share capital of Rotala PLC, with each valued at 63.5p. Approval of the sale by Rotala PLC shareholders was gained on 4 January after earlier recommendation of that step by a panel of independent Directors.
In details of the planned acquisition published during November 2023, Rotala Group’s Directors aired a belief that the company’s presence on the AIM “no longer represents good value” for the business and its shareholders as it provides “limited share price growth and access to equity capital.”
Additionally, they noted “a perceived desire of many Rotala shareholders to seek an exit from their investment,” which has been a restriction on share price potential and the business’s “ability to raise funding by the issue of new shares to support new opportunities for growth.”
The transfer of ownership will instead allow the three Rotala Group Directors “to invest to support Rotala’s growth potential as a private company.” Earlier in the takeover process, Simon Dunn observed that it “will allow us to operate in a more agile way.”
He and his fellow Rotala Group Directors “intend to invest in and support the growth of Rotala’s established platform and continued development by acquiring bus depots around the UK” after the sale completes, with a simplified corporate structure enabling “numerous expenses” associated with a public listing to be removed.
