Urbano Cairo and Andrea Bonomi relaunch and take the final sprint to conquer control of RCS, the publishing house that publishes leading newspapers such as Corriere della Sera and Gazzetta dello Sport. Now it's up to the transfer market to decide the outcome of the battle by next Friday.
Cairo, which presented its fourth offer, increased the exchange rate between RCS and its group shares to 0,18 and added cash: on balance, its offer is worth 1,038 euros for each RCS share, but only partly in cash while the other part is based on the exchange with Cairo Comunications shares: the minimum threshold for the success of the offer is to reach 35% of the capital of Rcs.
Bonomi, together with the historic shareholders of RCS (Mediobanca, Pirelli, Della Valle, Unipol), in turn adjusted its offer for the third time and raised it to 1 euro per RCS share. Its offer is lower than that of Cairo but it is all cash. Bonomi has also set the minimum threshold for the validity of the takeover bid at 30%.
Bonomi and partners already have 22,6% of RCS in their pocket, while Cairo has 4,7% to which it will be necessary to add the share of Intesa which supports the Alessandrian publisher.
“I passed out and gave my heart – commented Cairo – but we have a project that can give Rizzoli a turning point: the market wanted me to raise cash and now the cash is there”.
For RCS shareholders, the terms expire on Friday to decide on the market which of the two offers to choose: either with Cairo or with Bonomi.
