Patrick Drahi has finally received shareholder approval for the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Israeli telco HOT Telecommunication Systems after increasing his offer several times, TelecomFinance has learnt.
The French businessman, who already…
Patrick Drahi has finally received shareholder approval for the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Israeli telco HOT Telecommunication Systems after increasing his offer several times, TelecomFinance has learnt.
The French businessman, who already owns 69.25% of HOT through Cool Holding, upped his offer yet again last week to NIS42 (US$10.9) per share, giving the company a value of NIS3.06bn (US$792m). His bid was accepted at yesterday’s general shareholders meeting.
“Only two parties, equating to 2.3% of the shareholders, voted against the deal,” Eran Jacoby, analyst at DS Brokerage, told TelecomFinance.
“I expect that Drahi will de-list HOT now, but he will have to wait for regulatory approvals before he can do so.”
Jacoby added that HOT’s stock is currently valued at NIS41.5 (US$10.7), so by buying at NIS42 shareholders could make a profit.
As previously reported, Drahi had raised his offer from NIS37 (US$9.6) to NIS38 (US$9.8) last month, before increasing it again to NIS41 (US$10.6).
The HOT acquisition has been fraught with problems. Cool Holdings’ bondholders, led by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, tried to block the purchase as the HOT shares will be used as collateral for Cool’s debt and will result in the telco being de-listed.
It was agreed that bondholders will be compensated NIS55m (US$14.2m) if the company is privatised and the dispute was settled last month.
