Argentex shareholders face tough choice as IFX launches undervalued £3m takeover bid
When you have a loaded pistol held to your head, most people will do just about anything. I suspect this is what may have happened to 's major shareholders (58.26% stake collectively) and Board on 25th April after the business completely screwed up its liquidity requirements and was forced into a 'life or death' fundraise by rival IFX Payments.
Simply, shocked investors were probably given the choice of either immediate bankruptcy or agreeing irrevocably to IFX's all cash bid of 2.49p per share (worth £3m).
To me, IFX's offer significantly undervalues this forex payments company, which posted 2024 revenues of £50.3m and was worth £52m immediately before the shares were suspended on 22nd April.
So where does this leave us minorities?
Well, not surprisingly I plan to vote against IFX's 2.49p/share offer at the planned general meeting scheduled for Wednesday 11th June. The way I see it, the minimum we'll all get is 2.49p/share even if (worst case) the deal goes through.
However, there is a slim chance that minority shareholders might actually be able to stop the acquisition and obtain a higher price sometime in the future. To do so though, we all need to vote against IFX's proposal in order to obtain a minimum 25% blocking interest.
Plus, now that IFX's offer document has been officially released, it might even flush out a competing higher bid. Sure, this is a long shot, but worth a try nonetheless.
Hence, in my opinion there is frankly little to lose for minorities to vote against IFX's 2.49p offer, yet plenty to gain if we can all come together and vote the deal down.
Indeed, you never know, but might even be able to trade through its liquidity crisis as its client and counterparty forex contracts naturally expire - meaning in a few months' time, the company may not need some/all of IFX Payments' emergency loans and credit lines.
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