UPDATE: Cisco Raises Tandberg Bid Offer To NOK170 A Share
(Adds detail, comments from analyst and Tandberg shareholder.)
By Gustav Sandstrom
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- U.S.-based Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Monday raised
its cash offer for Norway's Tandberg ASA (TAA.OS) to 170 Norwegian kroner a
share from NOK153.50 a share, and extended 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.
The raised offer values Tandberg's shares at around NOK19 billion ($3.41
billion).
Cisco said it has received acceptances representing over 40% of Tandberg's
shares, including from the largest shareholders, Folketrygdfondet and
Oppenheimer Funds.
Peter Germonpre, managing director at minority Tandberg shareholder Panta
Capital, told Dow Jones Newswires Monday that he will accept the new offer,
which he described as sastisfactory although "not a knock-out bid."
Investment firm Panta Capital, which owns below 1% of Tandberg's shares, on
Nov. 6 said in an open letter that the previous NOK153.50 a share bid was too
low.
Germonpre said Monday he has spoken to Scott & Associates AG, another Tandberg
owner with less than 1% of the shares, which he said is also likely to accept
the new bid.
In early October, Cisco offered to buy the video-conferencing-equipment maker
in a deal that valued 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 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.
The raised bid looks fair and will probably be accepted by Tandberg's owners,
said Arctic Securities analyst Tom Olav Holberg, noting that several big
shareholders have already accepted the new offer.
At 1055 GMT, Tandberg shares, which were halted on the Oslo exchange earlier
Monday ahead of the announcement, rose 3.9% to NOK163.80, outpeforforming a 1.9%
rise in the wider market.
Company Web sites: www.tandberg.com; www.cisco.com
-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3099; gustav.sandstrom@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-16-090623ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
|