Readly lead shareholder rejects acquisition offer

Swedbank Robur, the asset manager which owns 8.8% of Readly, said Bonnier's offer was insufficient.

By Bron Maher

The biggest shareholder in digital newspaper service Readly has said it will decline a bid from Swedish media business Bonnier Group, likely dooming the offer.

In December Bonnier offered 12 Swedish Krona (95p) per share for Readly, with the intention of spinning off the company’s non-Nordic operations, including in the UK, to Cafeyn, a French rival to Readly. The 12kr offer represented a 59% premium over Readly’s 7.4kr share price prior to the acquisition bid, according to Swedish financial newspaper Dagens Industri.

Swedbank Robur, the asset manager which owns 8.8% of Readly, said Bonnier’s offer was insufficient because “the offer does not reflect the company’s value potential”.

The bid requires 90% shareholder approval, which now looks impossible. Bengtssons Tidnings AB, a shareholder with 2.7% of the company, had already said the offer was too small.

Readly’s chief executive Mats Brandt said: “Until we know the outcome of the bid we will stay dedicated to creating maximum value for all our stakeholders. The transition to becoming a profitable company is proceeding according to plan.

“As stated in our Q3 report, we have delivered six consecutive quarters of improved results. We are also proud of the continued relevance we can show, with regained growth pace in Germany and the UK, lowered churn across all markets and a strong pipeline of new content, new partners and new initiatives that we will share with the market in due course.”