Japanese telco KDDI Corporation and trading house Sumitomo Corporation have had to delay their tender offer for Jupiter Telecommunications as they are yet to receive approval from the Chinese competition authorities.
KDDI and Sumitomo offered to buy all…
Japanese telco KDDI Corporation and trading house Sumitomo Corporation have had to delay their tender offer for Jupiter Telecommunications as they are yet to receive approval from the Chinese competition authorities.
KDDI and Sumitomo offered to buy all the remaining shares in Jupiter for Y216bn (US$2.71bn) in October. They currently hold 30.71% and 39.98% stakes respectively and plan to delist the Japanese cableco once they have bought the shares currently outstanding.
The buyers were aiming to jointly conduct a tender offer for all common shares and share options issued by Jupiter by early February, but said they would not be able to meet that date due to outstanding antitrust approval from China.
As all three merging entities are Japanese companies, the application to China’s antitrust regulator suggests that Sumitomo is following through on its expansion plans. A Sumitomo exec previously said the buy could be a springboard to expand into overseas markets, particularly in Asia.
The Japanese bidders did not say when they anticipated receiving approval of the transaction.
Goldman Sachs and Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu are advising Sumitomo during the tender process, and JP Morgan is advising KDDI. Nishimura & Asahi is acting as KDDI’s legal adviser.
