SFR minorities bidder Altice responds to AMF decision declaring non compliance of offer
Altice NV (Euronext: ATCA, ATCB) has taken note of the decision of the French securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), to oppose the public exchange offer for its subsidiary SFR Group announced on 5 September 2016.
The Altice Group regrets this decision, which goes against the interests of both companies, their shareholders and employees.
The Altice group notes that the board of directors of SFR Group unanimously recommended the voluntary offer and that the independent expert concluded that the offer was fair to minority shareholders. As a result of the AMF decision, the offer is terminated, but Altice reserves the right to file an appeal with the Court of Appeal of Paris against the decision of the AMF, which it believes was made in breach of applicable stock market regulations.
Altice, an international group listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange and SFR group's controlling shareholder, confirms that its industrial strategy and its plans for growth in France and abroad remain unchanged.
Market regulator AMF's statement is translated below:
The Autorité des marchés financiers makes known that, in its meeting of 4 October 2016, it declared the simplified public exchange offer for SFR Group shares initiated by the company Altice NV non compliant (cf. D&I 216C1966 on 5 September 2016).
The AMF will publish the motivation behind its decision within a short timeframe.