Liberty Global has terminated discussions regarding the combination of its subsidiary UPC Switzerland with local player Sunrise Communications.
“We wish Sunrise well, but we are moving on. Despite our willingness to show significant flexibility on terms, it’s clear to us that the Sunrise board of directors and their largest shareholder cannot agree amongst themselves on the best path forward,” said Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global.
“As we close that door, we are excited by the success of UPC Switzerland’s turnaround plan and free cash flow generation, and we will obviously consider other strategic options in the marketplace,” added Fries. “We’ve seen in The Netherlands, Belgium and elsewhere around the world, that the industrial logic of fixed-mobile convergence is indisputable. UPC Switzerland is the fulcrum asset in the Swiss telecom market, with a nationwide 1 Gigabit network, the best entertainment platform and a growing fixed-mobile subscriber base.”
Liberty Global and Sunrise announced a binding agreement on February 27, 2019 and the combination received unconditional regulatory approval in September.
However, in October, Sunrise cancelled its extraordinary general meeting, with approval from Liberty Global, due to a dispute with its largest shareholder Freenet and the share purchase agreement providing for the transaction was terminated in November.
After the payment of a CHF50 million break fee by Sunrise to Liberty Global, negotiations continued up until today’s announcement.
