The foundation that owns nearly half of KPN has asked the Dutch telco to convene an EGM to redeem its preference shares.
Charged with protecting the telco and its stakeholders, the foundation exercised a call option in August which gave it almost 50% of…
The foundation that owns nearly half of KPN has asked the Dutch telco to convene an EGM to redeem its preference shares.
Charged with protecting the telco and its stakeholders, the foundation exercised a call option in August which gave it almost 50% of the telco’s voting rights.
This poison pill effectively blocked America Movil’s (AMX) €7.2bn (US$9.6bn) takeover bid.
Abandoning the bid in October, Carlos Slim’s AMX said the foundation had made the intended takeover “impossible”.
KPN said in a statement today that the foundation board believes there is now no reason to defer redemption of the 4.3 billion outstanding preference shares.
The telco noted that its boards acknowledge the foundation’s “unconditional and continuous” right to acquire preference shares in future.
AMX CEO Daniel Hajj said late last month the company is keeping its options open concerning its investment in KPN, saying it could eventually decide to increase or decrease its 30% stake.
Meanwhile, Slim has reportedly held informal talks with Stephane Richard, CEO of French incumbent Orange, about KPN. Orange recently got the go-ahead from the French government, which has a 27% stake in the operator, to try and grow further in Europe.
