Kudelski criticises ‘misleading’ Arcadia

The Kudelski Group has openly criticised a letter written by OpenTV investor Arcadia Capital Advisors in which the company described the Swiss technology company’s bid as being “too low”.

In a statement issued on Friday (October 30), the New York-based investment firm said the intrinsic value of OpenTV’s shares was substantially higher and criticised Kudelski for having an overly negative view of the OpenTV business.

“We believe that Kudelski’s Tender Offer is coercive and has created unfounded fears about Kudelski’s ultimate plans to de-list OpenTV’s stock or not complete the full acquisition of OpenTV in a timely manner or at a fair price,” said Arcadia’s managing director Richard Rofé. “We have decided to not tender our shares and believe Kudelski faces a significant hurdle to reach the necessary shares to effectuate a squeeze out. We believe Kudelski will ultimately return with one or more higher offers and we will see more value over the next few months.”

Kudelski hit back, accusing Arcadia as being “a short term opportunistic shareholder”, and compared its stance with that of the Discovery Group. Previously a critic of Kudelski’s bid for the middleware company, Discovery has recently sold more than 7 million OpenTV shares.

Kudelski said OpenTV’s share price had been artificially inflated following Kudelski’s initial proposal by unrealistic value expectations and short-term speculation among shareholders. The share price had fallen by 20% once the initial offer was withdrawn and stood at just $1.54 after the market closed on Friday, just shy of Kudelski’s latest $1.55 per share offer.