HELSINKI, Finland-TDC, the Copenhagen-based Danish operator in which U.S. telecom group SBC Communications holds a 42-percent equity holding, has made an outright bid to acquire all shares in its Swiss mobile subsidiary TDC Switzerland.
The full acquisition transaction, which is scheduled to take place by the end of February, will see TDC pay US$845.6 million in cash for the outstanding 14.88 percent of shares in TDC Switzerland. TDC already controls 85.12 percent of shares and voting stock in the Zurich-based mobile company.
TDC has invested more than US$1.2 billion in building its Swiss subsidiary’s market presence in Switzerland, an investment that has targeted the country’s German, French and Italian speaking areas and populations.
TDC was incorporated in November 2000 after TDC acquired Sunrise, the Swiss landline telecom company and Internet operator. The takeover strengthened TDC’s fixed, mobile and Internet operations. Shares in Sunrise were bought from Swiss State Railways (5.9 percent), British Telecom (34.4 percent) and Union Bank of Switzerland (4.9 percent).
The Danish operator is acquiring the current outstanding shares in TDC Switzerland from Dolomite Finance, an investment group with offices in Geneva, and minority shareholders.
The remaining minority shareholders in TDC Switzerland are expected to exercise their put options to sell their shares to TDC no later than 22 February.
