Spanish incumbent Telefonica has improved its offer for KPN’s German mobile subsidiary E-Plus from €8.1bn to €8.55bn.
In return, KPN’s major shareholder America Movil (AMX) has committed to voting in favour of the transaction.
Under the new…
Spanish incumbent Telefonica has improved its offer for KPN’s German mobile subsidiary E-Plus from €8.1bn to €8.55bn.
In return, KPN’s major shareholder America Movil (AMX) has committed to voting in favour of the transaction.
Under the new deal arrangement, KPN will retain a 20.5% stake in Telefonica Deutschland, nearly 3% higher than the 17.6% agreed originally. Telefonica will have a call option to acquire the 2.9% stake for €510m plus interest a year after completion of the sale.
The €5bn cash component of the transaction remains unchanged.
KPN shareholders will vote on the offer, which has the support of KPN’s board, on 2 October.
Nomura analysts noted that the support by AMX had significantly reduced uncertainty of the deal.
AMX goes ahead with KPN bid
Meanwhile, America Movil’s voluntary tender offer to acquire KPN for €2.40 per share remains unchanged. In a statement, AMX confirmed that it remains committed to the transaction.
In what appears to be an attempt to address concerns by the KPN Foundation, AMX said it “intends to respect the identity of KPN” and would retain KPN headquarters in The Hague, continue to operate under the KPN brand and to finance expansion plans.
Earlier this month the KPN Foundation, set up when the Dutch government first privatised the incumbent, had said there was “considerable uncertainty about America Movil’s intentions in light of its only briefly clarified announcement of its intention to make a public offer for the shares in KPN it does not already own”.
The foundation is charged with representing the interests of the company and its associated entities and stakeholders. In the Netherlands, foundations of this type have the power to block takeovers, generally by exercising a call option. This sees the target company issue a large number of preference shares, thereby diluting the holding of the unwanted bidder.
