Portugal Telecom: Isabel dos Santos will have to revise EUR-1.21bn offer
Isabel dos Santos will have to revise her EUR 1.21bn takeover bid on Portugal Telecom (PT) if the operation is to succeed, reported Diario Economico. Sources familiar with the situation told the Lusophone business daily that most Lisbon analysts believe dos Santos' EUR 1.35 a share bid on PT has two main hurdles to its success.
The key stumbling blocks to the PT bid by the Angolan private investor are the refusal by the Brazilian telco Oi to alter the conditions of its merger with PT and the low price of the dos Santos bid, analysts said, which will likely be rejected by PT shareholders. The PT board meets on either 14 or 17 November to discuss the dos Santos bid and has eight days from Monday 10 November to pronounce on the offer.
Elsewhere, Diario de Noticias cited a representative of dos Santos as saying the Angolan businesswoman's main objective is to become a minority shareholder in Oi and maintain the unity of PT at the same time. Dos Santos, daughter of Angolan leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, wants to save PT rather than see it broken up. The surprise dos Santos offer for PT is likely to prevent Oi divesting its Portuguese operations, called PT Portugal. Altice made a EUR 7.025bn cash offer last week for PT Portugal.
Meanwhile, Jornal de Negocios quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying Altice remains confident that the dos Santos bid on PT will not affect its offer on PT Portugal. Apax Partners, the UK private equity firm, met last week with Portuguese investors in PT Portugal and could make a firm bid in the coming days, the sources said.
Source Diario Economico, Diario de Noticias, Jornal de Negocios