Brazilian phone company Embratel Participacoes S/A on Tuesday unveiled plans to start a restructuring of its operations, which could eventually bring all of the group’s operations under one roof.
Embratel, controlled by Mexico’s America Movil SAB de CV, plans to buy up shares in cable television company Net Servicos de Comunicacao S/A that it doesn’t already own and will examine the “convenience” of a corporate restructuring, according to a company statement.
Embratel would be the last major Brazilian telecommunications group to reorganize, as the industry puts behind it the complex and fragmented years following the 1998 privatization. Telefonica Brasil SA merged its fixed and mobile operations last year, while the Oi group is in the final stages of its own reorganization.
Click here to find out more!Embratel said the tender offer would be for all of Net’s outstanding shares, including those listed in the U.S. and in Spain; if successful, Embratel would proceed to take Net private, withdrawing the shares from trading.
Embratel said it has set a maximum price of 26.04 Brazilian reais ($14.80) a share for Net’s preferred and voting shares. The company has called for a valuation of Net’s shares, and if that price is higher than BRL26.04, Embratel may cancel the plans to withdraw Net from trading and would instead stick with a simple tender offer.
Embratel confirmed on Tuesday that it has taken control of GB Empreendimentos e Participacoes, the holding company that controls Net, after buying 5.5% of GB’s voting shares for BRL6.44 million from Globo Comunicacoes e Participacoes S/A, or Globopar.
That purchase was part of a deal struck in 2005, under which Embratel agreed to buy control of Net once legislation was changed to allow foreign-owned companies to own Brazilian cable TV firms. That law was changed in 2011.
