Spain’s MasMovil has made a cash offer of €11.17 per share to acquire 100% of the cable operator Euskaltel.
Euskaltel lists Zegona Communications as its largest (21.4%) shareholder and the bid values Euskaltel’s equity at €2 billion, equating to an enterprise value of €3.5 billion.
Zegona’s shareholding is valued at around €428 million.
In a statement, Zegona notes that Euskaltel’s three largest shareholders (Kutxabank, Alba and itself), who together own over 52%, have entered into irrevocable undertakings to tender all their shares.
It adds that the approach is considered friendly and attractive by Euskaltel’s board and Euskaltel has entered into a collaboration agreement with MasMovil in relation to the offer.
Commenting on the offer, Eamonn O’Hare, Zegona’s chairman and CEO, said: “When we originally invested in Spain in 2015, we identified the opportunity for substantial value creation, with further upside potential from industry consolidation. In 2019, we became Euskaltel’s largest shareholder and through the introduction of José Miguel García as CEO and board representation, we implemented our plan to drive significant change in the business. This included realising synergies from the combination of the three northern Spanish cablecos, getting the combined business back to growth and expanding nationally by launching the Virgin telco brand. Today’s offer underscores the success of our strategy in Spain and provides significant value creation fro Zegoma shareholders”.
MasMovil is backed by the private equity funds KKR, Providence and Cinven.
