STOCKHOLM -- Ericsson today announced its intention to make a public cash offer for the 28.81 per cent of the shares in its Italian subsidiary Ericsson S.p.A. not already owned by Ericsson. Ericsson presently holds 71.19 per cent of the shares in Ericsson S.p.A.
Ericsson will, through a newly formed Italian company, offer EUR 32.00 in cash for each Ericsson S.p.A. share. The offer value of the shares not already owned by Ericsson (28.81 per cent) is EUR 237.3 million. The offer price represents a premium of 19.2 per cent over the reference price of Ericsson S.p.A. shares on April 23, 2004 and a premium of 25.4 per cent over the average Ericsson S.p.A. share price during the last three months. Ericsson S.p.A. is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (Mercato Telematico Azionario in Milan).
The reason for the offer is to continue to simplify the Ericsson Group structure and to reduce the number of listed subsidiaries. This was the rational behind the offers for the minority shares in Ericsson's listed subsidiaries in Brazil in 1998 and Mexico in 1995. Ericsson S.p.A. is the only remaining listed subsidiary within the Ericsson Group. It is Ericsson's aim to concentrate trading in Ericsson shares to a limited number of key markets, i.e. Stockholm, London and NASDAQ in the US.
LM Ericsson