Liberty Global, a British telecommunications firm, will acquire Sunrise Communications, a Switzerland-based telecommunications firm for 6.8 billion Swiss francs, media reports said.
Mike Fries, chief executive of Liberty Global, told the media, “The company never lost sight of plans to merge with Sunrise. “It wasn’t a question of is this a good deal, only a matter of how it would get done. The two companies had “multiple conversations” over the past few years.”
The latest deal marks a strong partnership in the telecom space as companies are seeking to reduce costs and boost investment in the technology field.
It is reported that the acquisition will be an all-cash deal in which John Malone, an American business personal will pay 110 Swiss francs per share for Sunrise Communications. This week, the share price of the Denver-based company surged by more than a quarter to just below the offer price. In addition, German firm Freenet has decided to tender its shares for the deal as 24 percent of Sunrise Communications is controlled by them.
According to Liberty Global, once the acquisition is completed, the company’s revenue will be worth 3.17 billion Swiss francs. Furthermore, there will be 2.1 million mobile subscribers, 1.2 million broadband subscribers and 1.3 million TV subscribers, challenging its counterpart Swisscom AG and potentially easing pressure on pricing in the highly competitive global market.
The company’s new acquisition follows the tie up between Liberty Global’s Virgin Media and Telefonica’s O2.