Saudi Telecom announced at the weekend that it has received regulatory approval to proceed with a takeover offer for Kuwaiti mobile operator Viva, and shared details of the offer price.
The Saudi Arabian operator is keen to acquire the 74% of Viva that it does not already own, and to that end applied for permission from the Kuwait Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to make an offer last month.
On Sunday it announced it has received CMA approval to go ahead with the voluntary offer for 74% of Viva’s 499.4 million shares.
A day later the telco issued a second stock exchange announcement to say it is has set an offer price of 1 Kuwaiti dinar (€3) per share.
According to Reuters, Saudi Telecom’s Arabic-language bid document states that the price values Viva at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.4, based on its third quarter results. The newswire added that Viva’s rivals, the local units of Zain and Ooredoo, trade at P/E ratios of 18.6 and 9.1 respectively.
It also noted that Saudi Telecom will fund the deal through its own cash reserves, according to the bid document.
Saudi Telecom said the offer period will run from 27 December through to 31 March. It will detail the number of shares purchased and total price after that date.
