US-based Liberty Global has launched its previously announced €35 per share offer for the remaining 49.6% stake in Belgian cableco Telenet it does not already own, valuing the stake at just over €2bn.
Liberty, which holds 50.4% of the stock,…
US-based Liberty Global has launched its previously announced €35 per share offer for the remaining 49.6% stake in Belgian cableco Telenet it does not already own, valuing the stake at just over €2bn.
Liberty, which holds 50.4% of the stock, announced the plan in September, but the offer drew criticism from Telenet’s board which cited a fairness opinion from Lazard that valued the shares between €37 and €42.
Today, Telenet’s board reiterated the offer did not reflect the value of the company and its prospects, adding that it would consider recommending an offer that was between €39 and €40.
Liberty described its offer as “highly attractive”, saying it represented a 12.5% premium to the Telenet closing share price on 19 September 2012.
Telenet said the premium was inappropriately low and falls short of the average premium of approximately 20% in other comparable European minority take-out bids.
Today during morning hours, Telenet shares tradeed above the offer price, peaking at €35.50.
Shareholders have until 11 January 2013 to accept the offer.
The offer originally had a minimum acceptance of 95%, but Liberty dropped this stipulation at the end of October.
Liberty said there are no further regulatory approvals required for the offer to close.
