Belgacom agrees to Telindus takeover

2 January 2006

BRUSSELS — State-run Belgian telecoms firm Belgacom has agreed to a EUR 594 million takeover of Telindus, a network services provider.

The deal by Belgacom and Telindus “will preserve Telindus as a separate company with its own brand, identity, culture and values within the Belgacom Group,” the companies said on Saturday.

It was reported on 15 December that Belgacom had raised its offer to EUR 16.60 a share for Telindus. That offer was 5.1 percent higher than France Telecom’s bid the day before of EUR 15.80.

Telindus designs, installs and manages networks. It has 2,600 employees and operates in 14 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The companies’ statement said Belgacom would “keep and actively promote” the Telindus brand name for at least five years and would not undertake any “major restructuring” for 12 months after that unless proposed by Telindus management.

It also said the agreement had set up ways for the two sides to respect their current business interests, Bloomberg reported.

The offer period will close on Friday and the “conditional agreement” will take effect if no higher offer is filed by Wednesday.

Subject: Belgian news