Takeover bid from Tamedia for Publigroupe
Tamedia remains committed to its goal of acquiring Publigroupe and published the offer prospectus on Tuesday. The price of 190 francs per share stated in the prospectus corresponds to the highest purchase price Tamedia has paid for Publigroupe shares in recent weeks.
The Swiss media group Tamedia is sticking to its goal of acquiring Publigroupe. On Tuesday, May 27, 2014, Tamedia published the detailed offer prospectus as required by takeover law. Tamedia already owns 17.6 percent of Publigroupe shares and is therefore its largest shareholder. The purchase price of CHF 190 per share contained in the prospectus corresponds to the highest purchase price paid by Tamedia for Publigroupe shares in recent weeks. The offer period begins on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 and currently ends on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 4:00 pm. The offer price corresponds to a premium of 50 percent on the last closing price of the Publigroupe share (CHF 126.60) prior to the publication of the pre-announcement by Tamedia. The premium compared to the weighted average price of the Publigroupe share (CHF 123.41) during the last 60 trading days prior to the publication of the pre-announcement is 54 percent.
The telecommunications group Swisscom announced a competing takeover bid at a price of CHF 200 on May 16, 2014. Swisscom's offer prospectus must be published by Thursday, June 12, 2014 at the latest, as Tamedia writes in a press release on Tuesday. Swisscom's offer would then be open for acceptance from June 27, 2014 until July 24, 2014, 4:00 pm. In this case, Tamedia's offer period would also be extended until July 24, 2014, 4:00 pm. Tamedia may amend its Offer no later than on the fifth trading day prior to its extended expiry.
By acquiring the stake in Local.ch held by Publigroupe, Tamedia intends to further strengthen its position in the directory business and develop even more attractive offers for small and medium-sized companies in the growing online market. Tamedia already holds a 75 percent stake in Search.ch, the leading directory and information platform in the user market.
