The French telecoms operator France Télécom does not intend to raise its bid for the Finnish and Swedish-owned telecommunications service provider TeliaSonera.
”If we were to increase the parity in the share portion of the offer in favour of the TeliaSonera shareholders, our investors would be disadvantaged and they would exert downward pressure on our share price. Since this is a friendly approach and not a market raid, there's no reason to raise our offer and overpay for TeliaSonera”, Gervais de Pellissier, the Chief Financial Officer of France Télécom, was quoted saying in an interview with Le Journal Du Dimanche on Sunday.
France Télécom made a preliminary offer to buy TeliaSonera for close to EUR 30 billion on Thursday of last week.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, 52% would be paid in cash and 48% would be as an exchange of shares.
The stock markets generally regarded the bid as too low.
De Pellissier also said that France Télécom could go back on its offer if it is not accepted as friendly by the TeliaSonera management and shareholders or if its shares continue fo fall on the stock market.
De Pellissier also ruled out extending the 15-day period of validity of the bid.
”Together the two groups would have a greater purchasing power and more room for manoeuvre when investing in the technologies of the future in the areas of mobile broadband and fibre” noted de Pellissier when asssessing the advantages of the proposed deal.
