Italian towerco EI Towers has launched a €1.2bn (US$1.4bn) tender offer to acquire state-owned rival Rai Way in a cash and stock deal, aimed at the creation of a large national TV and radio infrastructure operator.
The company will pay €4.5 for each…
Italian towerco EI Towers has launched a €1.2bn (US$1.4bn) tender offer to acquire state-owned rival Rai Way in a cash and stock deal, aimed at the creation of a large national TV and radio infrastructure operator.
The company will pay €4.5 for each Rai Way share, which corresponds to a 22% premium to Rai Way’s share price on Monday, EI Towers said in a statement.
The offer consists of a cash component of 3.13 euros per share as well as 0.03 newly issued EI Towers ordinary shares, the company said.
EI Towers, which is 40% owned by Silvio Berlusconi’s Elettronica Industriale, will fund the acquisition with a loan granted by an undisclosed “primary international investment bank”.
The offer, which Ei Towers expects to complete by summer 2015, is conditional upon the acquisition of at least 66.67% of Rai Way’s share capital, and is subject to the approval of the Italian competition authority and EI Towers shareholders, due to meet on 27 March.
EI Towers, which plans to delist Rai Way from the Italian stock market, said that the transaction will result in significant synergies and higher efficiencies, and will place Italy on a par with other European countries, where TV and radio network infrastructure is managed by a single player.
The Lissone-based towerco added that the deal might encourage the ongoing telecoms consolidation process among European towercos, as many mobile operators look to offload or outsource infrastructure assets to focus on network upgrades and other core activities.
“EI Towers will keep granting access to the infrastructures to all the television and radio operators independently, under equal and transparent terms, by offering a full and integrated service and will increasingly and prospectively open its infrastructure to telecommunications operators,” the company said.
EI Towers’ remaining shares are held by BlackRock (10.25%), Octavian Advisors (4.13%), Threadneedle Asset Management (2.019%) and Amber Capital (2.018%).