Publigroupe: Hedge fund wants more
As reported by the NZZ am Sonntag, the Swiss hedge fund RBR Capital Advisors is demanding that Publigroupe reject the Swisscom offer of CHF 200 per share as too low.
Since Tamedia and Swisscom announced a joint approach in the Publigroupe case (Werbewoche.ch reported), the share price is sometimes more, sometimes less above the CHF 200 offered. RBR Capital Advisors, the fourth-largest shareholder, is dissatisfied with the Swisscom offer. RBR boss Rudolf Bohli, who took over two percent of Publigroupe shares from Tamedia at a price of 130 francs before Easter and recently increased his stake to over three percent (price: 150 francs), is calling for a "fair value" per share to be set for the sale. This is currently CHF 260. "If you only consider the parts of the company that were already sold in 2014 or for which there are concrete offers or comprehensible market prices from strategic investors, their value alone is higher than the CHF 200 offered by Swisscom," Bohli told NZZ am Sonntag. He hopes that the second and third largest shareholders will follow his call. Together they hold just under a quarter of Publigroupe shares. (hae/NZZaS)
