Japanese telco KDDI Corporation and trading house Sumitomo Corporation have commenced their tender offer to buy Japanese cableco Jupiter Telecommunications, following approval from the Chinese antitrust authorities.
In an announcement to the…
Japanese telco KDDI Corporation and trading house Sumitomo Corporation have commenced their tender offer to buy Japanese cableco Jupiter Telecommunications, following approval from the Chinese antitrust authorities.
In an announcement to the Singapore stock exchange today, the two acquiring companies said that they received permission from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on 17 February and decided to commence the tender offer yesterday.
The companies also confirmed in today’s statement to the bourse that they had raised the price of their tender offer to Y123,000 (US$1,335) per share, up from the initial offer price of Y110,000 (US$1,194) per share.
As TelecomFinance previously reported, Sumitomo and KDDI, which currently hold 30.71% and 39.98% stakes in Jupiter respectively, offered to buy all the remaining shares in Jupiter for Y216bn (US$2.71bn) in October. The companies intend to jointly manage Jupiter after the acquisition.
The tender offer was planned for earlier this month, but it was pushed back due to a delay in antitrust approval in China.
As all three entities are Japanese companies, the application to China’s antitrust regulator suggests that Sumitomo is following through on its expansion plans. A Sumitomo executive previously said the buy could be a springboard to expand into overseas markets, particularly in Asia.
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.
