Cisco Raises Tandberg Bid Offer To NOK170 Per Share
By Gustav Sandstrom, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- U.S.-based Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) said Monday it
is raising its bid offer for Norway's Tandberg ASA (TAA.OS) to 170 Norwegian
kroner per share from NOK153.50 per share, and extending the offer period to
Dec. 1.
"The new offer represents the offeror's final price for this transaction,"
Cisco said, adding that it will withdraw the offer if it doesn't achieve the
desired 90% level of acceptances.
Cisco said it has received acceptances representing over 40% of Tandberg's
shares, including from the largest shareholders, Folketrygdfondet and
Oppenheimer Funds.
In early October, Cisco offered to buy the video-conferencing-equipment maker
in a deal that values the company at around 17.2 billion Norwegian kroner ($3.08
billion). The offer represented an 11% premium to Tandberg's share price Sept.
30 and a 38% premium to the price on July 15 before reports emerged about an
upcoming bid. Tandberg's board and management also support the deal.
Still, several minority shareholders in Tandberg have rejected the original
bid offer. Swedish brokerage SEB Enskilda Oct. 15 said owners of 24% of
Tandberg's shares, which it represented, had turned down the bid claiming that
the premium is too low.
Last week, Cisco extended the dealine for the offer to Nov. 18 in an effort to
lure the remaining hold-outs seeking a richer bid.
The U.S.-based company has pushed into 30 new business areas, including video-
conferencing systems, which it says could each produce $1 billion a year in
revenue.
Shares in Tandberg, which were halted on the Oslo exchange earlier Monday
ahead of the announcement, at 0944 GMT were up 5.3% at NOK166, outpeforforming a
2.1% rise in the wider market.
Company Web site: www.tandberg.com; www.cisco.com
-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3099; gustav.sandstrom@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-16-090503ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
|