The supervisory board of Austrian state holding company OeIAG will meet with Telekom Austria’s (TA’s) workers’ council next Tuesday to discuss its plans for the Austrian incumbent.
The meeting has been granted at the request of the workers’…
The supervisory board of Austrian state holding company OeIAG will meet with Telekom Austria’s (TA’s) workers’ council next Tuesday to discuss its plans for the Austrian incumbent.
The meeting has been granted at the request of the workers’ council, a spokesperson for OeIAG, TA’s largest shareholder with a 28.4% stake, said. The main purpose of the meeting is to inform and no major decisions are expected to be taken, he added.
Workers’ council head Walter Hotz was quoted last month as saying the group intended to call a meeting with the OeIAG supervisory board to clarify its intentions regarding TA’s second largest shareholder, Carlos Slim’s America Movil (AMX). The extent to which the state holding would participate in any capital increase at TA was another topic of concern.
AMX, which has a 26.8% stake in TA, confirmed late last month that is in contact with OeIAG about a potential shareholders’ syndicate agreement, but stressed that talks are at “a very early stage”.
No formal talks yet
The OeIAG spokesperson today highlighted that the company “is not in formal negotiations with [AMX] yet”.
Should OeIAG and AMX pool their stakes, they would well surpass the 30% threshold that triggers a mandatory takeover offer under Austrian law.
Last month, it also emerged that Mexico-based AMX had prepared a draft shareholder syndicate agreement that would enable it to take control of TA.
The document, revealed by Austrian magazine News, would allow OeIAG to keep a blocking minority of 25.01% in exchange for agreeing to co-operate with AMX going forward.
AMX would then make an offer for all outstanding TA shares. The current free float of about 45% has a value of €1.48bn (US$2.04bn), not taking into account any premium AMX would have to pay.
The Mexican group would also invest an additional €750m (US$1.03bn) in the Austrian telco by participating in a capital increase, according to the draft document.
The draft agreement includes number of sweeteners, such as promises to keep TA listed in Austria, invest in infrastructure and improve the operator’s position in the CEE region.
The shareholder pact would last for 10 years, with an optional five-year extension.
