UPC has secured a 96.6 percent stake in Sunrise
The takeover of the telecom company Sunrise by UPC is on the home stretch. Following the completion of the takeover bid, UPC owns 96.6 percent of all Sunrise shares. The delisting from the Swiss stock exchange is thus drawing closer, a joint statement said on Tuesday.
UPC had made public its interest in Sunrise at the end of August (Werbewoche.ch reported). UPC owner Liberty Global is digging deep into its pockets for this: Sunrise shareholders are to receive 110 francs per share - that makes a total of 5 billion francs. This means that Switzerland's second-largest telecoms group is valued at 6.8 billion francs, including debt.
In the previous year, the liaison had played out the other way around: At that time, Sunrise wanted to walk UPC down the aisle for CHF 6.3 billion. However, the deal failed due to opposition from shareholders led by Germany's Freenet, which criticized the purchase price and the necessary capital increase as being too high. (Werbewoche.ch reported). Freenet is known to support the current deal.
Challenger for Swisscom
Together, UPC and Sunrise want to become a potent challenger to top dog Swisscom. Together, they will achieve sales of CHF 3.1 billion and have 2.1 million mobile subscribers. With 1.2 million broadband customers and 1.3 million TV subscribers, they will achieve a market share of around 30 percent in each area.
One goal of the merger is also to eliminate the respective weak points. Sunrise, for example, is getting its own fixed network, while UPC is now getting a mobile network. (SDA)
