Melbourne based telco provider Blitz Telecom Australia Pty Ltd will seek public listing via reverse merger on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) following its acceptance of a $16.5 million takeover offer from Voltage IP Ltd.

VIP is nearing the end of its formal due diligence process for completion of the takeover set for April 4, 2008.

Following completion, a meeting of VIP shareholders' will be called for early May to vote on changing the name of VIP to Blitz Telecom Ltd, resolutions relating to VIPs' obligations under Chapter 1 and 2 of the ASX listing rules, and ratifying the appointment of a new Board.

To acquire the issued capital of Blitz, VIP will, on completion, issue a loan note for $16.5 million secured by a registered charge over the shares of Blitz. Subject to VIP shareholder approval, the loan note may at the discretion of VIP be settled in full or in part by a conversion into shares in VIP.

Should the loan note convert into shares, Blitz would become a substantial shareholder in VIP.

Blitz executive director, Umut Omer said the business has experienced significant growth in the past 12 months as it positions itself in the marketplace as a leading provider of business grade IP communication, mobility and managed services to the wholesale and business markets.

He said the listing of Blitz on the ASX was not about creating an exit for current shareholders, but rather the opportunity to create leverage as Blitz pursues an acquisitive growth strategy.

Following the proposed shareholders meeting, Omer said a prospectus will be prepared and lodged with ASIC to raise up to $5 million and reserve the right to accept oversubscriptions of up to $2 million.

He said capital to be raised would be employed to fund development and expansion programs and to have adequate capital available to support its acquisitive growth strategy.

Blitz Telecom is a provider of converged business grade IP communication, mobility and managed services to the wholesale and business markets.

Through aggressive organic growth, and the completion of a number of acquisitions in 2007, Blitz now has a customer base of 40,000.

BlitzOnNet provides VoIP technologies (SIP v2, H.323, and TDMoE), traditional voice technologies (ISDN and PSTN), geographic number ranges, and the transition and connectivity of data across multiple technologies such as ASDL, ADSL2+, Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, and Satellite.