Ericsson bids 106 nkr/shr cash for Norway's Tandberg Television UPDATE

Ericsson bids 106 nkr/shr cash for Norway's Tandberg Television UPDATE

	Published : Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:07 By : Agencies Print this Story

(Updating with Ericsson CEO comments)

STOCKHOLM (AFX) - LM Ericsson AB said it has bid 106 nkr per share in cash for Norway's Tandberg Television ASA, and that it already holds 11.7 pct of the Norwegian firm and has 'irrevocable' acceptances for a further 13 pct of the shares.

Ericsson said the bid is a 'significant step toward (a) world leadership position in IPTV', and that Tandberg will expand its customer base to include cable and satellite operators as well as broadcasters.

Ericsson said the acquisition will be EPS-accretive from 2007, excluding possible depreciation of intangibles.

The bid represents a premium of 18.2 pct to the most recent 3-month average share price, and values Tandberg at 8.9 bln skr after deduction of net cash.

Ericsson also said the bid represents a premium of 10.4 pct or 10 nkr per share to the proposed mixed cash/share offer announced on January 15 by Arris.

'IPTV for cable and telecom operators is the biggest networked multimedia opportunity going forward,' Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said.

'Ericsson and Tandberg Television is a strong combination with a unique ability to offer complete IPTV solutions. Tandberg's leading TV technology and customer base and our global presence and strong position in IP networks and IMS will create a leading player in networked media solutions for telecom, cable and satellite operators as well as media companies,' he added.

He said a large part of the expected traffic growth in the world's mobile and fixed networks is expected to be generated by TV services.

'Tandberg is a world leader in video head-end, encoding and compression technology critical to maximize picture quality while minimizing bandwidth in video applications,' he said.

'This technology is a key part of IPTV solutions. Tandberg is particularly strong in MPEG-4, which is critical for cost effective delivery of High Definition TV. In addition, Tandberg offers on-demand and interactive video solutions,' Svanberg said.

TF.TFN-EuropeStockholm@thomson.com

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