Italian broadband business Fastweb has accepted a E256m offer by Swiss mobile operator Swisscom to acquire the 18% it does not already own in the group.
Fastweb stated on Monday that the company’s board of directors judged Swisscom’s E18 per share offer…
Italian broadband business Fastweb has accepted a E256m offer by Swiss mobile operator Swisscom to acquire the 18% it does not already own in the group.
Fastweb stated on Monday that the company’s board of directors judged Swisscom’s E18 per share offer to be fair.
The offer represented a premium of 34.6% to Fastweb’s E13.48 closing share price on September 7, the day before buyout plans were announced.
Fastweb was advised by Mediobanca – Banca di Credito Finanziario and UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking.
Swisscom was advised by Credit Suisse and Banca IM, while Legance Studio Legale Associato providing legal advice.
The buyout will be financed through Swisscom’s own funds or via an existing credit line, a spokesperson for the company said.
According to Swisscom, the takeover will help it achieve “greater strategic and operational flexibility”, enabling it to take advantage of further growth potential and opportunities in the Italian market for Fastweb.
Swisscom’s CEO, Carstern Schloter, is to continue as temporary CEO of Fastweb to ensure stability during investigations into an alleged E2bn laundering scam.
Swisscom had previously expected to re-establish its former management by the end of September. However, a spokesperson insisted it would be speculative at this point to suggest there were delays in the investigations.
Schloter became temporary CEO of the Italian company in April to avoid it being run by a third party appointed by Italy’s government.
He replaced Stefano Parisi who, along with other executives at Fastweb, is being investigated regarding a money laundering ring that fabricated transactions between 2003 and 2006.
Executives from Telecom Italia’s Sparkle are also under the same investigation.
A Swisscom spokesman declined to comment on the procedure, but described the widely reported November 2 trial start date as not involving Fastweb management.
