Sunrise tries again on UPC buy
September 30, 2019
Sunrise is revising its financing on its bid for UPC Switzerland again – and is reducing the size of the rights issue in a bid to secure shareholder approval for the deal.
It will now reduce the size of the rights issue by CHF1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) to CHF2.8 billion ahead of a shareholder meeting on October 23rd. The telco is also planning an increased dividend in the range of CHF350-370 million for the 2019 financial year, based on the higher than expected number of shares in the company post-rights issue. It is also introducing a cash-for-title option enabling shareholders to receive the dividend in cash, newly issued Sunrise shares or a combination.
The company’s move follows last week’s approval of the acquisition by regulator BEKO. Despite the opposition of Sunrise shareholders to the terms agreed with UPC Switzerland owner Liberty Global, Liberty rejects the idea of making any changes to the agreement and said that it was “fully committed to completing the transaction as agreed”.