Swisscom to buy rest of Fastweb for EUR 256 mln

Swisscom is preparing an offer to buy the remaining shares in Italian broadband operator Fastweb. Swisscom already owns 82.05 percent of Fastweb and wants to acquire the remaining 17.918 percent for EUR 18 per share, valuing the stake at EUR 256 million. Swisscom will offer a takeover price of EUR 18 per share in cash. This represents a premium of EUR 4.63 or 34.6 percent on the official share price on 7 September. Swisscom will finance the buy-out from its own funds or via an existing credit line. Irrespective of the deal, Swisscom will be in a position to pay a dividend in 2011 equivalent at least to the prior-year amount and will also retain the necessary financial reserves for any further deals, the company said. Swisscom intends to take over Fastweb in full and to delist the company from the Milan stock exchange. Given the dynamic market development in Italy, the full takeover will give Swisscom greater strategic and operational flexibility, it said. Swisscom will shortly submit its offer prospectus to the Italian stock exchange regulator Consob. The offer will be subject to a minimum acceptance level of 95 percent, and the offer period will begin as promptly as possible after Swisscom is given the green light by Consob. Since being taken over by Swisscom in 2007, Fastweb has achieved strong growth, with a broadband customer base at 30 June of around 1.7 million. Swisscom believes the Italian market offers further growth potential and opportunities for Fastweb. Swisscom will focus on both core markets, Switzerland and Italy.