News
Liberty Global buying
Sunrise for €6.2bn
After what seemed to be a long—
running, on—off courtship, Liberty
Global has agreed to make an all cash
offer for all of
Swiss multiplay
telco Sunrise at a
price of CHF110
(€102.20) per
share.
The offer
represents a
32% premium
to the average
price per share
of CHF83.17
during the
period up to
August 2020
and values
Sunrise equity
at CHF5 billion,
representing a
total enterprise
value of CHF6.8
billion.
Sunrise’s
Board of
Directors is
unanimously
recommending
that its
shareholders
accept the offer;
Freenet AG, Sunrise’s largest shareholder,
which holds approximately 24% of Sunrise’s
capital, has commitmented to tender its shares
at the offer price.
The combination will create a leading
national converged challenger in Switzerland.
Together, the combined business would
have CHF3.1 billion in revenue, 2.1m mobile
post-paid subscribers, 1.2m broadband
subscribers and 1.3m TV subscribers, reflecting
approximately 30% market share in each
segment.
Sunrise’s Board
of Directors is
unanimously
recommending
that its
shareholders
accept the offer
“The industrial logic of this merger is
undeniable, but the real winners are Swiss
consumers and businesses,” asserted Mike
Fries, CEO of Liberty Global. “This powerful
combination of 5G wireless and gigabit
broadband will accelerate digital investment
at a time when connectivity has never been
more essential. Fixed-mobile convergence is
the future of the telecom sector in Europe,
and now Switzerland will have a true national
challenger to drive competition and innovation
for years to come. We look forward to
welcoming Sunrise employees to the Liberty
and UPC family and congratulate them and the
board on their success.”
“This transaction is another significant step
on our path to create fixed-mobile champions
in all of our core markets, crystallising the
value of our superior broadband networks and
driving long-term, sustainable free cash flow
growth. Even after this deal, and assuming
completion of our recently announced
UK transaction, we will continue to have
approximately $7 billion of liquidity to drive
value-creation for shareholders,” he advised.
“In making this offer, Liberty Global is
recognising the quality and resilience of our
business and its potential going forward,”
stated Thomas D Meyer, chairman of Sunrise
Board. “The Board believes that the offer is in
the best interest of our shareholders and will
create opportunities for the Sunrise employees
to be part of a fully converged national
champion. The combination of Sunrise and
UPC Switzerland will create the leading
fixed-mobile challenger in the Swiss telecoms
market, with the scale and infrastructure to
compete against Swisscom.”
“Sunrise has delivered on its qualityfocused
strategy and built one of the best
mobile networks worldwide,” commented
Andre Krause, CEO of Sunrise. “We have
successfully gained market share in all our
businesses, underpinned by our strong focus
on customer centricity, service excellence,
innovation and quality offering. We are very
proud of what our employees have achieved
and believe that the combination with UPC
Switzerland will enable the combined company
to become the leading fully converged
challenger in the market.”
“This deal creates a fantastic and unique
opportunity to create a new combined
company, with significant benefits for
consumers and businesses across Switzerland,
as well as providing growth opportunities for
our employees,” added Baptiest Coopmans,
CEO of UPC Switzerland. We are building
the future of Switzerland with a new material
scale to drive competition, innovation and
customer choice in the Swiss market, at a time
when connectivity, communication and home
entertainment have never been more essential.
With Liberty Global backing this deal, we have
the critical mass to make a difference in the
Swiss market. We are very happy that we can
join forces with Sunrise by combining great
networks, leading brands and commercial
strategies as well as uniting cultures.”
Liberty unveils green STB
Liberty Global is introducing what
it claims is its greenest-ever settop
box, delivering a world-class
viewing experience while dramatically
reducing energy consumption and the
use of plastics.
Designed in-house by engineers
at Liberty Global and manufactured
by CommScope, the 4K Mini TV
Box will be available immediately to
UPC Poland customers and will be
introduced in other Liberty Global
markets in due course.
“Our new 4K box is very small in
size, but it packs a mighty punch,
giving our customers a cutting-edge
4K viewing experience across the
full spectrum of live, on-demand and
streamed content,” stated Enrique
Rodriguez, CTO, Liberty Global.
“Moreover, the 4K Mini TV Box
combines technological innovation
with our long-standing commitment
to sustainability, delivering a worldclass
viewing experience while
reducing energy consumption and use
of plastics.”
“At UPC Poland, customer
satisfaction is paramount to us,
so we are committed to delivering
outstanding customer care combined
with best in-class connectivity
and entertainment, anytime and
anywhere,” added Robert Redeleanu,
CEO Liberty Global, Eastern Europe.
6 EUROMEDIA