Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
Takeover offer by Tamedia for PubliGroupe – publication of the offer prospectus
Zurich, 27 May 2014 – The Swiss media group Tamedia is sticking to its goal of taking over PubliGroupe SA (Valor 462630, ISIN CH0004626302, PUBN). On Tuesday 27 May 2014, Tamedia published the detailed offer prospectus required under mergers and acquisitions law. At present, Tamedia already owns 17.6 percent of PubliGroupe and is thus the largest shareholder.
The purchase price of CHF 190 per share contained in the prospectus represents the highest purchase price paid by Tamedia for PubliGroupe shares over the past few weeks. The tender period will start on Wednesday 18 June 2014 and is currently scheduled to end at 4pm on Tuesday 15 July 2014.
The offer price represents a premium of 50 percent above the last closing price of the PubliGroupe share (CHF 126.60) prior to publication of the pre-announcement by Tamedia. It incorporates a 54 percent premium above the weighted average PubliGroupe share price (CHF 123.41) over the last 60 trading days prior to the pre-announcement.
On 16 May 2014, the telecommunications group Swisscom announced a competing takeover bid at a price of CHF 200. The offer prospectus of Swisscom must be published at the latest on Thursday 12 June 2014. The Swisscom bid could then be accepted between 27 June 2014 and 4pm on 24 July 2014. In such an eventuality, Tamedia's tender period would also be extended until 4pm on 24 July 2014. Tamedia may amend its bid at any time until the fifth trading day prior to its extended expiry.
By taking over PubliGroupe's shareholding in local.ch, the Tamedia intends to strengthen further its position in the directory online market and to develop more attractive products in the growing online market for small and medium-sized businesses. Tamedia already holds a 75 stake in search.ch, the leading online directory and information platform in the user market.
Important note: this notice does not represent an offer to purchase shares in PubliGroupe Ltd. The text of the pre-announcement, the offer prospectus and all information relating to restrictions on the offer may be downloaded from http://www.tamedia.ch/en/.