Liberty Global remains committed to selling its Swiss cable subsidiary UPC to local telco Sunrise under the agreed terms.
Liberty Global notes the recent statements by Freenet and Sunrise with respect to the proposed acquisition of Liberty’s Swiss operation by Sunrise, the company said in a statement.
Liberty Global is fully committed to completing the transaction as agreed. The company has not had any discussions regarding amending the binding transaction terms, and has no intention or interest in doing so, according to the statement.
German media company Freenet, a major shareholder in Sunrise, recently affirmed its opposition against the acquisition of UPC, arguing that the price was too high and the conditions unfavourable.
At the extraordinary general meeting later this year, Freenet will therefore reject Sunrise’s proposed capital increase of CHF4.1 billion (€3.8 billion) associated with the CHF6.3 billion (€5.8 billion) acquisition announced in February 2019.
With a shareholding of around a quarter of the shares, Freenet will not be able to block the acquisition on its own, but its strong opposition could attract the attention of other, smaller shareholders who could also turn down the transaction.
