Buyout bid for Belgium’s Telenet too low

US cable holding group Liberty Global’s bid to take full control of Belgian operator Telenet is too low, a financial advisor appointed by Telenet’s independent board members said yesterday, reports Reuters. The US group, which has 19.6 million customers in 13 countries, has offered €35 per share to buy the rest of Telenet, but according to advisor Lazard (appointed to evaluate the bid in accordance with Belgian law), Telenet is worth between €37 and €42 per share. “Telenet has been informed that Liberty Global has serious reservations with regard to the revised assumptions mentioned,” Telenet said. It added that Liberty values Telenet at €28 to €35 per share. Liberty owns a 50.14 percent stake in Telenet, its second-largest business in revenue terms after its European division UPC. In a separate announcement yesterday, Telenet issued a forecast for 2013, saying it sees revenue up by between 10 and 11 percent and core profit up by between 7 and 8 percent. The company said the expansion was based on uptake of television and broadband services, as well as a growth of its relatively new mobile phone business. Profits would not grow as much as revenue because margins in mobile were lower, it said. Shares closed at €35.85 on Wednesday and have been suspended by the Belgian regulator since Thursday morning, pending the announcement. They have been just above Liberty Global’s offer price for two weeks. Telenet, which had 2.13 million customers in the third quarter of this year, has been steadily growing by upgrading customers to costlier digital TV services.