2nd UPDATE: Cisco Raises Tandberg Bid Offer To NOK170 A Share
(Adds comment from Tandberg in the sixth paragraph.)
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). It's an unusual move for Cisco, which is used to quickly snapping up
smaller companies with little resistance.
Cisco said it has received acceptances representing over 40% of Tandberg's
shares, including from the largest shareholders, Folketrygdfondet and
Oppenheimer Funds.
Tandberg supported Cisco's move.
"This revised offer only further demonstrates Cisco's belief in our technology
and our people," said Chief Executive Fredrik Halvorsen. "We continue to believe
that Cisco and Tandberg share a vision of changing the way people communicate
and collaborate, and that the combination of world-class technologies, Cisco's
global scale, and exceptional people from both organizations will enable us to
accelerate innovation and market adoption."
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 satisfactory although "not a knockout bid."
Investment firm Panta Capital, which owns fewer than 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 fewer 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 deadline for the offer to Wednesday 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.
Cisco shares recently rose 27 cents, or 1.1%, to $23.98.
Company Web sites: www.tandberg.com; www.cisco.com
-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3099; gustav.sandstrom@
dowjones.com
(Roger Cheng contributed to this report.)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-16-091219ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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