Fidelity holds a 62% stake in Colt, and, if accepted, today’s offer would end Colt’s nearly 20-year run as a publicly traded company.
In a statement, independent directors at Colt said that the offer undervalues the company, and that a sale to a third party could result in a much higher price.
However, they have not yet rejected the bid with the statement concluding that: “the financial terms of the offer may be considered by some shareholders to be acceptable in the circumstances, and accordingly make no recommendation to shareholders whether or not to accept the offer”.
Fidelity helped to found Colt – and took it public – and has thus far said it will not increase its offer, claiming that it values the company “fully and fairly”.
The investor also said it would not decrease its stake in Colt before December 2016.
Pacnet’s Grivner joined Colt as EVP of its network services business in May this year, and later the same month, Colt implemented a major upgrade to its European long-distance network.
