Swiss incumbent Swisscom has agreed to raise its offer for marketing and media sales company PubliGroupe to SFr214 (US$238) per share, valuing the planned takeover at about SFr492m (US$548m).
The Berne-based telco signed an agreement on the increased…
Swiss incumbent Swisscom has agreed to raise its offer for marketing and media sales company PubliGroupe to SFr214 (US$238) per share, valuing the planned takeover at about SFr492m (US$548m).
The Berne-based telco signed an agreement on the increased offer price with PubliGroupe.
It said that its board of directors has agreed to support the buyout and recommend other shareholders do so too. Swisscom has also inked agreements with other major shareholders.
In late May, Swisscom entered into an agreement with local media firm Tamedia to jointly acquire PubliGroupe’s online directories and search businesses and incorporate them into a new joint venture. Swisscom will own 69% of the JV and consolidate it, while Tamedia will own 31%. The two companies had previously made rival bids for PubliGroupe, with Swisscom’s SFr200 (US$223) per share coming up trumps.
The key driver of the PubliGroupe takeover for Swisscom is to take full control of local.ch and search.ch. The telco currently owns 50% of the local.ch group, which includes the online directories platform, while PubliGroupe owns the rest. Tamedia owns 75% of search.ch, which provides a phone directory and interactive map as well as search and other services, while the rest belongs to Swiss Post.
Swisscom and Tamedia intend to transform the online businesses into “a strong Swiss alternative to Google”.
If the takeover is successful, the telco intends to sell PubliGroup’s minority shareholdings in several media companies.
Both the PubliGroupe takeover and the partnership between Swisscom and Tamedia are subject to the approval of the Federal Competition Commission.
At the time of writing, PubliGroupe’s shares were trading on the SIS Swiss Exchange at SFr212 (US$236) each.
