SWEDISH investment firm Kinnevik has made an all cash offer for the half of Metro International it does not already own, valuing the newspaper group at around 1.15bn Swedish krona (£108m).
Kinnevik, which currently owns 46.6 per cent of Metro and controls 42.4 per cent of the votes, has offered a premium of approximately 46 per cent compared to Metro’s volume-weighted average share price on Nasdaq during the last three months.
The Swedish company has proposed a price of SEK0.9 for Class A shares, SEK0.94 for B shares, SEK0.5 for warrants and SEK0.4 for debentures.
Mia Brunell Livfors, chief executive and president of Kinnevik, said: “We have followed Metro’s development with great interest since the company was founded more than 15 years ago to its present position as a unique and world leading player on the free newspaper market.”
Kinnevik is the largest stakeholder in Metro, which distributes free newspapers in over 100 cities.
The Swedish company also holds stakes in Baltic broadcaster Modern Times Group, telecoms company Tele2 and discount website Groupon.
Metro shares jumped 19 per cent, closing at SEK0.93.
