Telefonica of Spain has raised its offer to gain sole control of Chilean telco Telefonica Chile. The Spanish company upped its buyout offer by 10% to CLP1,100 per series ‘A’ share, after shareholders last week blocked the more than USD1 billion buyout offer from going through. The company also raised its offer on series ‘B’ shares to CLP990 per share from CLP900. ‘The price will be paid in local currency pesos and will not pay interest,’ Telefonica said in a statement to the local bourse in Santiago.
Last week, Telefonica Chile shareholders, led by pension fund administrators, voted against modifying corporate bylaws needed to allow a buyout to go through. The Spanish company currently holds a 44.9% stake in Telefonica Chile, a much lower percentage than other regional subsidiaries. Some of Chile’s private pension funds, which together control 21.6% of the Chilean company, rejected the earlier buyout offer because it was too low. Shareholders will vote on the new offer on 28 October.