AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) - TomTom NV said it will launch an equity
offering of up to 500 mln eur to refinance part of the financing commitments for
the acquisition of Tele Atlas NV and to reduce financial leverage.
TomTom said it has already acquired about 29.9 pct of the outstanding shares
of Tele Atlas for a total consideration of about 0.8 bln eur, financed by about
0.6 bln eur of cash on its balance sheet and about 0.2 bln under a short-term
credit facility.
The acquisition of the remaining 70.1 pct of Tele Atlas' shares representing
about 2.1 bln eur is expected to be financed from the proceeds of the equity
offering and the 1.85 bln eur senior committed financing provided by the
financing banks.
Following the completion of the equity offering, TomTom expects the 0.45 bln
eur junior committed financing of the total 2.3 bln from the financing banks
will no longer be required.
Aaron Gray-Block; aaron.gray-block@thomson.com
agb/am
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