Liberty Global's CHF6.3 Billion Deal to Sell Swiss Operations to Sunrise Falters
October 22 2019 - 7:08AM
Dow Jones News
By Max Bernhard
Sunrise Communications Group AG (SRCG.EB) on Tuesday canceled a
shareholder meeting on its planned 6.3 billion Swiss francs ($6.4
billion) acquisition of Liberty Global PLC's (LBTYA) Swiss unit,
citing lack of support from investors, effectively collapsing the
deal.
Sunrise called the now canceled extraordinary general
meeting--scheduled for Wednesday--to seek approval for a capital
increase to help finance the deal. This was the last condition for
the acquisition to go through. "Based on clear indications received
from shareholders and Freenet's announcement to vote against the
capital increase at the EGM, the board of directors of Sunrise has
concluded that the clear majority of shareholders who have
registered their shares to vote at the EGM do not support the
capital increase," it said.
Liberty Global said it supports the cancellation of the EGM.
Freenet AG (FNTN.XE), which holds about a 25% stake in Sunrise,
said at the beginning of October that it still wouldn't support the
deal, after Sunrise had adjusted the capital structure for it.
"The adjustment to the target capital structure scratches only
at the surface of the package of highly unfavorable deal terms and
the fundamental strategic challenges of the transaction--in its
entirety still leading to value destruction for all existing
Sunrise shareholders," Freenet said then.
Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com;
@mxbernhard
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 22, 2019 06:53 ET (10:53 GMT)
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