Friday, October 07, 2005
Marconi set to receive 325p-per-share Ericsson offer;
Story: Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications business, is set to make a 325p-per-share bid for Marconi, the Guardian said in a market report. Citing professionals in the market, the article reported gossip that Ericsson hopes to buy the group and then float its North American data-networking arm in London.
Its German, Italian and UK divisions would be retained in the event of a deal, the report said. It added that the German and Italian arms would be a good fit with the networking and mobile mast assets that Nasdaq-listed Ericsson already operates.
The item went on to cite analysts who note Ericsson is sitting on GBP 1.4bn (EUR 2bn) and so could well afford to make an offer, even taking into account the deficit in Marconi’s pension fund.
London-listed Marconi has a market capitalisation of GBP 648m.
Source: The Guardian
Value: £648m (Marconi market cap)
