Shareholders of Portuguese cableco Zon Multimedia have approved a change to the company’s shareholder rules, leading to speculation of a potential merger with the media/telecoms group Sonaecom.
In a meeting on 30 January, the company’s shareholders…
Shareholders of Portuguese cableco Zon Multimedia have approved a change to the company’s shareholder rules, leading to speculation of a potential merger with the media/telecoms group Sonaecom.
In a meeting on 30 January, the company’s shareholders approved a measure to remove a restriction that limited shareholders to exercising a maximum 10% of Zon’s voting rights.
The shareholders meeting had been called by two of Zon’s shareholders, Caixa Geral de Depositos and Espirito Santo Irmaos.
Jonathan Dann, an analyst at Barclays Capital, highlighted that this change removed an impediment to Zon merging with Sonaecom or another company.
Guido Varatojo dos Santos, an equity analyst at Caixa – Banco de Investimento (CaixaBI), said that the change to the company’s bylaws “increased Zon’s appeal” and made “any potential deal and changes in the shareholder structure easier and simpler”.
Santos also cited Portuguese press as saying that Vodafone could also be interested in Zon Multimedia, but he argued this would be a “more difficult deal” because Zon’s bylaws still state that a competitor cannot hold a stake of over 10% of Zon’s voting rights.
According to Zon’s website, its largest five shareholders are Caixa Geral de Depositos (10.88% of Zon’s share capital), Kento Holding Limited (10%), Banco BPI (7.56%), Telefonica (5.46%) and Espirito Santo Irmaos (5%).
Zon is a triple-play operator, providing fixed-line, internet and TV services to around 1.6m customers.
