LISBON, Portugal-Portugal Telecom announced a bid to gain control of its Brazilian affiliate, Telesp Celular Participacoes S.A. TCP holds the A-band cellular license for the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Portugal Telecom said it would offer 30 Brazilian reais for every 1,000 TCP shares. The telecom company said it plans to acquire all TCP’s ordinary shares not held by TCP’s controlling group, Portelcom, which is led by Portugal Telecom and includes Spain’s Telefonica. This represents about 68 billion shares or 46.7 percent of the total outstanding ordinary shares and 16.3 percent of the total share capital.
The total payment would be about $1.17 billion, a premium of 39 percent over TCP’s March 13 closing price. Portugal Telecom intends to pay cash for the shares.
The operator also said it is evaluating a share capital increase of about $570 million through a public subscription with rights of first refusal granted to existing shareholders.
Portugal Telecom sees obvious potential in the Brazilian market, which has a low telephone density and shares a common language with Portugal.
