Navis Media to Acquire Beyond International

SYDNEY: Private-equity
firm Navis Media plans to acquire Beyond International in a deal that values
the Australian production-and-distribution company at A$74.6 million ($62.5
million).

The proposed takeover will
be submitted to Beyond’s shareholders for approval in November. The company’s
chief executive, Mikael Borglund, is expected to remain in his position if the
offer is successful.

The company says that the
all-cash offer for $1.22 per share marks a 76-percent premium on the company’s
share price as at September 13, 2007.

Ian Ingram, Beyond’s
chairman, said, “We believe in Navis Media we have found excellent buyers for
this business, and have achieved a structure which provides liquidity for the
shareholders.”

In the Sydney Morning
Herald, Navis Capital Partners’
director, Rodney Muse, said the investment “is consistent with our approach of
identifying strong businesses and strong management teams in growth industries
and supporting them. We plan to exploit the North American and European
opportunities that Beyond has seen and identified."

With the Navis deal, Beyond
has rejected the offer received from Mariner Financial last week.