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If it depends on its American major shareholder Liberty Global, Telenet is in its last weeks on the Brussels stock exchange. The Americans made a takeover bid for the shares they do not yet own, but the loot is not quite there yet.

Listen to Tom Simonts (KBC) on Telenet here:

In the news: Liberty Global, which owns more than 93 percent of Telenet shares, is reopening its on Aug. 24, the American group announced last week.

The question: Is it then interesting for the small Telenet shareholder to also start selling to Liberty Global, or rather hold on to those shares, hoping for an even higher offer?

  • "That is the million dollar question," replies Tom Simonts, financial economist at KBC, in an interview with Business AM. "I think you can also look at it the other way around. If you look at the price evolution of telecom players in the Benelux in recent years, it has clearly been negative, because much more had to be invested in fiber and content, among other things. And if you then look at the premium that Liberty is paying on the then share price about 60 percent, yes, that is significant."
  • Perhaps satisfied with the proverbial bird in the hand after all, Simonts reasoned. "Is the bid sufficient in a 10- to 15-year perspective? You can debate that, but certainly now is a good time to get the cash. And then you always have the option to possibly get into another telecom player. So I think the offer can be summarized mainly for the ordinary investor as: cash is king. It may not be 100 percent optimal, but the offer comes at a good time."

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