News

Telenet shareholders able to tender their shares during an initial acceptance period between 8 June until 12 July at €22 per share

Today, Liberty Global has published its prospectus related to its voluntary and conditional public takeover bid for Belgium’s largest fixed broadband operator, Telenet.

The offer is for €22 per share, minus the €1 gross dividend approved by Telenet’s ordinary general meeting in April this year and subsequently paid in May. Shareholders will be able to accept the offer from tomorrow (8 July) until 12 July, with Liberty Global set to announce the results on 19 July.

Liberty Global’s offer to take Telenet private was first announced in March this year, with the bid totalling around €929 million.

The offer is conditional on Liberty Global ultimately owning at least 95% of the total shares in Telenet; if this is achieved and the deal goes ahead, Liberty Global will then begin the simplified squeeze-out process of acquiring the remaining shares.

Liberty Global currently owns 58.18% of Telenet, with minority shareholders holding 37.73%.

“We are pleased to announce the approval of our Offer prospectus. Telenet shareholders can start tendering their shares on June 8, 2023 at an attractive premium. We are committed to maintaining Telenet’s status as a leading and pioneering telecommunications and entertainment company in Belgium,” said Liberty CEO Mike Fries.

In an official response memorandum also published today, Telenet’s Board of Directors expressed unanimous support for the offer.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Liberty has tried to buyout Telenet’s minority shareholders. Back in 2012, the company made a takeover offer at the price of €35 per share, a sum that was ultimately deemed to undervalue the Belgian operator.

However, over the past year, high inflation and soaring energy costs have seen Telenet’s shareprice fall by around half, presenting Liberty Global with an attractive opportunity to take the business private.

In related news, Liberty Global is currently seeking to redomicile itself in Bermuda, a move which Fries claims is primarily motivated by better aligning the company with US regulations and the interest of US shareholders. The proposal has caused controversy, however, with stakeholders suggesting that it will present Fries and company chairman John Malone with disproportionate voting powers.

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News

The Nasdaq-listed Liberty claims the move is to better align itself with the US regulations

According to reports, independent shareholders in Liberty Global are likely to vote against a proposal to domicile the company in Bermuda at an upcoming extraordinary general meeting.

Liberty Global, which has telecoms businesses interests in numerous markets across Europe, including Virgin Media O2 in the UK, first filed a preliminary statement with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the move back in April. The filing indicated that the company would be reincorporated in Bermuda, arguing that doing so would help simplify relations with the company’s predominantly US-based shareholders.

“Today, we are incorporated as an England and Wales company, listed on Nasdaq, and as a result there are cumbersome administrative processes,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries. “The proposed transaction will have no change to our listing on Nasdaq, our day-to-day operations or the tax residence of our operating companies. The principal objective of the change in jurisdiction of incorporation is to facilitate shareholder value creation by aligning the US style corporate law of Bermuda with our listing on Nasdaq and the expectations of our largely US shareholder base.”

He further highlighted that the move should streamline various business activities, such as M&A.

“Key components of our strategy to create shareholder value may include, among others, financing, cross-border M&A and investments, share buybacks, self-tender offers, spin-offs and split-offs, all of which are easier to execute as a Bermuda company,” he added in a note to shareholders.

But despite this purported boon in value, not all shareholders are likely to be happy with the move. The shift would reportedly lower the threshold for key shareholder votes from its 75% to just 50%, therefore delivering a disproportionate amount of voting power to Fries and Liberty Global’s chairman, billionaire John Malone.

Together the duo would control roughly 40% of votes, despite only holding 8% of the company’s shares.

This opposition comes at a troubling time for Liberty Global’s leadership, which is already facing backlash for its proposed changes to executive pay packages and governance practices.

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world? Click here to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

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Interview

At this year’s Submarine Networks EMEA conference, Total Telecom caught up with Infinera’s Director of Technology and Solutions, Geoff Bennett, to discuss some of the hottest trends in the submarine cable industry

Despite the widespread public misconception that satellites beam down the internet from the sky, over 99% of the world’s international network traffic in fact flows over submarine cables. As such, this sector continues to experience unprecedented growth in line with the soaring demand for connectivity taking place all around the world.

Of course, meeting this demand is no easy feat. New cables take many years and hundreds of millions of dollars to deploy, making it essential that the right technologies are used to maximise the capacity they can deliver to their users.

But deploying these new state-of-the-art cables is just one part of the solution to this global challenge. Thousands of kilometres of existing fibre networks already sprawl beneath the world’s oceans, with many of these systems nearing the end of their 25+ year engineering lifespans. Upgrading these systems with the latest transponder technology can see the economic life of these cables significantly extended, ensuring they continue to play their role in connectivity global customers for many years to come.

Finally, looking at the submarine cable industry, it is imperative that the sector refresh its pool of talent. The generation of submarine network experts that were trained around the turn of the century are nearing retirement age, so it is essential we look at the entire talent pool to introduce new faces as soon as possible and begin the process of knowledge transfer.

You can view our full interview with Infinera’s Geoff Bennet from the link below.

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News

The operator has signed an agreement with low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite player Lynk Global aiming to trial direct-to-device satellite mobile services by the end of the year

This week, Spark has announced a new partnership with LEO satellite operator Lynk, becoming the last of New Zealand’s mobile operators to see their connectivity take to the stars.

The partnership will see Spark trial Lynk’s direct-to-consumer mobile connectivity by the end of the year, with some of their customers able to opt-in to participate for free.

Founded in 2017, Lynk Global is one of the world’s first satellite operators to target direct-to-mobile connectivity. Since then, the company has launched three initial satellites, testing the technology successfully in 21 countries.

Lynk expects to launch a number of additional satellites by the end of this year, a move that should allow it to begin offering limited commercial services.

However, this is just a small fraction of Lynk’s overall ambition, with the company suggesting they will need around 1,000 devices in orbit to provide continuous global broadband services – something they aim to achieve by 2025. In future, this total could swell to around 5,000 to help support global demand for connectivity.

Due to Lynk’s relatively limited initial deployment, the newly announced trial with Spark will only enable text messaging at certain times of day. However, as more satellites are deployed over the next two years, availability of service will improve, and voice and data services will be introduced.

Ultimately, Spark hopes to use Lynk’s constellation to provide near-universal coverage across New Zealand, ensuring customers are connected wherever they travel.

“While satellites can’t provide 100 percent coverage – as you need a clear line of sight to the sky to get connected – it certainly adds an additional layer of resilience, particularly now, as we face increasingly severe and frequent weather events due to climate change,” said Spark’s product director Tessa Tierney. “And once there are more satellites launched and the service is available more broadly, it will allow our mobile customers to start to use their phones in more areas that aren’t reached by traditional mobile coverage.”

The move comes as part of Spark’s recently announced three-year strategy, which also includes a focus on data centre investment and new connectivity technologies, including satellites.

Spark is the last of the country’s mobile operators to strike a satellite connectivity partnership. 2degrees announced a similar deal with Lynk back in April, with trials reportedly already underway. Meanwhile, Vodafone New Zealand – recently rebranded as One New Zealand – has signed up to use SpaceX’s Starlink constellation from late 2024.

How will satellite connectivity impact the international telecoms sector? Join the discussion with the operators at this year’s Total Telecom Congress

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Viasat completes Inmarsat merger deal
EXATEL talks expansion into subsea connectivity sector