UPDATE 4-Over 90 pct of Tandberg investors snub Cisco deal

Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:03pm GMT
 
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* Cisco gets 9.4 percent acceptances for Tandberg offer

* Cisco has previously extended its offer to Nov. 18

* Tandberg shares little changed at 151.5 crowns (Recasts, adds comments and NEW YORK dateline)

By Joergen Frich and Ritsuko Ando

OSLO/NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Over 90 percent of shareholders in Norwegian videoconferencing company Tandberg (TAA.OL) snubbed an acquisition bid by U.S. network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), with many expecting a sweetened offer.

Cisco revealed the tally of responses from Tandberg shareholders on Tuesday, showing only 9.37 percent acceptance, a day after announcing it would extend its 17.2-billion-Norwegian-crown ($3.1 billion) offer to Nov. 18 while keeping the terms unchanged. [ID:nL9496256]

Groups representing a total of around 30 percent of Tandberg shareholders have publicly demanded a higher offer than Cisco's price of 153.5 crowns a share. Cisco needs 90 percent approval to close the deal, which analysts say would create a strong leader in video communications.

Analysts said Cisco could ultimately offer around 160 to 170 crowns.

"This confirms what we have believed for a while ... the big majority wants to wait and see how this develops," said analyst Tore Tonseth from Argo Securities. "There's no point in accepting, when you see that 20-30 percent of shares are not accepting."  Continued...

 

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