Revolution in the Iliad house. The founder and main shareholder of the company, Xavier Niel launched a simplified takeover bid on Iliad. An operation aimed at "accelerate the development of Iliad and support its strategy".
In detail, the offer was launched by HoldCo II, a company controlled by Niel, which currently holds (directly or indirectly) 70,6% of the capital and 78,8% of the voting rights of the group.
The proposed price is 182 euros per share, a figure which corresponds to a premium of 61% compared to yesterday's closing price, July 29, and of 52,7% compared to the average quotation weighted on volumes over the last month. The stock reacted immediately, earning 61% on the Paris Stock Exchange, aligning itself with the takeover bid price.
'I founded Iliad in 1999 and I am very proud of the group's journey and the value created for shareholders. Now the new phase of development of Iliad requires rapid transformations and investments that will be made more easily with the non-listed company ”, explained Niel. "The ambition we have for Iliad drives us to accelerate its development to make it a leader in telecommunications in Europe," added the founder of the company.
As of today - continues the note released by Iliad - "Niel and the managers of the group and historical shareholders" who have undertaken to adhere to the offer hold directly and indirectly 74,9% of the share capital and 83,6% of the voting rights. Niel's takeover bid was “unanimously welcomed by the Iliad board of directors,” Iliad also indicates.
At the conclusion of the offer, if the number of shares that have not subscribed does not exceed 10% of the capital and voting rights, HoldCo II will ask the AMF, the supervisory authority of the French Stock Exchange, to implement the withdrawal procedure obligatory. Translated: aiming for delisting.
In this context the transalpine telephone group has also published accounts for the first semester, closed with revenues of 3,72 billion euros (+33,7%), supported "by the consolidation of Play in Poland, by the rebound in growth in France and by a sustained performance in Italy". EBITDA boom, which rose by 59,5% to 1,4 billion euro against a net profit of 239 million (+15%).
Excluding the impact of Poland, the group's EBITDA increased by 17%, "with Italy generating a positive EBITDA for the first time and France continuing to improve its margin".
Speaking of'Italyrevenues in our country rose by 22,9% to 383 million, with a growth rate of 20,4% in the second quarter. Ebitda, on the other hand, went from a loss of 84 million euros to a positive figure of 6 million. In the first half of the year subscribers in Italy increased by almost 600 thousand, 280 thousand of which in the second quarter and the group has a total of 7,82 million subscribers at the end of June, with a market share of over 10%. .
