Ayima Group

Note: this press release is not a formal response to the offer document published by WPTG on 23 February 2024. The individual Board members of Ayima Group AB, as shareholders, have already signed an undertaking to participate in the offer and the requirement for a formal board response has been waived. Ayima has appointed an "independent bid committee" to deal with matters relating to the offer and to commission an independent valuation report to be published within two weeks of the completion of the acceptance period as per the terms of the offer. For the full offer details, please visit https://whitepearltech.com/ 

Background to the Merger:

The deal is the result of several long discussions between the parties in the preceding months. During these discussions, it was apparent that the two companies shared a similar vision for the future and faced similar frustrations and cost issues associated with being small-cap publicly listed companies - listing fees, advisors, auditors, IR, reporting etc.

The parties established that considerable operational and strategic synergies exist between the two businesses, so the reasons for the deal are far from purely financial.

Following the completion of the deal, it is envisaged that Ayima will form the basis of an entirely new Digital Innovation division within the group, supplementing the existing IT Services divisions. The current Ayima management will remain and become large shareholders in the group. The employees of Ayima will stay in their positions and there will be no major change in the way Ayima conducts its operations, other than a broader scope for expansion.

WPTG has stated they are committed to supporting and funding Ayima's future growth into new territories and services and through acquisitions, including the recently announced Linkology acquisition, which is currently being negotiated.

The WPTG offer has been made in shares, so the existing Ayima shareholders will be able to convert their shares to new shares in the group at the rate of 0.6 WPTG shares for each Ayima share - a considerable premium on the pre-announcement share price and a great opportunity to invest in an exciting and rapidly growing new group.

About WPTG

WPTG is newly listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market (from July 2023) and operates IT Services businesses, largely in developing (high growth) markets such as Middle East, South Asia and Latin America. WPTG listed on Nasdaq First through a reverse takeover of an existing company, DS Platformen and a subsequent name change, the historical financial and shareprice data available on trading platforms and on nasdaqomxnordic.com does not relate to the company in its existing form).

As per the Year End report published this morning (26 Feb 2024), WPTG brought in 240 MSEK in annual revenue at a healthy profit margin in 2023, producing 33 MSek in EBITDA. WPTG also indicated that they expect the current annual growth rate of to continue into the future. Thus the expectation will be for around 300 MSEK revenue in 2024 and when combined with Ayima (130 MSEK in 2023) and Linkology (70 MSEK in 2023), that number should look considerably higher.

Following the completion of the merger, Ayima and WPTG will together formulate an aggressive growth strategy, involving acquisitions (buy and build), cross-selling and organic/geographic expansion.