Tele2-Com Hem deal closes

Swedish telco Tele2 has completed its takeover of local cable operator Com Hem, with all of Com Hem holding’s assets and liabilities transferred to Tele2.

Anders Nilsson

The merged entity will maintain the company name Tele2 and will continue to have its registered office in Stockholm, Sweden.

Com Hem’s CEO Anders Nilsson takes up his new role as president and CEO of Tele2 as of today, replacing Alison Kirkby who has stepped down. The previously announced members of the new leadership team also assume their roles today.

“I feel both happy and humble to lead Tele2 going forward, together with my new leadership team. Most of all, I am proud to lead such a strong organisation with fearless and dedicated employees,” said Nilsson.

“Together, united as Tele2, we represent huge potential and will be able to offer significant benefits to Swedish individuals, households, businesses and our shareholders. Tele2 was already a fantastic company and it will become even stronger with our colleagues from Com Hem.”

The deal closed after the Swedish Companies Registration Office (SCRO) registered the merger today, completing it from a legal perspective.

The SCRO registered the issue of 183,441,585 new shares of class B in Tele2 as a merger consideration. Tele2 therefore has a total of 690,341,597 outstanding shares. Each share in Com Hem will be exchanged for 1.0374 new shares of class B in Tele2 and SEK 37.02 (€3.58) in cash.

The SCRO also registered Andrew Barron and Eva Lindqvist as new members of Tele2’s board of directors. Tele2’s board now consists of Georgi Ganev, Carla Smits-Nusteling, Anders Björkman, Eamonn O’Hare, Sofia Arhall Bergendorff, Cynthia Gordon, Lars-Åke Norling, Andrew Barron and Eva Lindqvist.

Tele2 agreed to buy Com Hem in January in a deal that was described by the firms as a “natural next step for both companies”. The agreement valued Com Hem at some SEK 26.0 billion (€2.65 billion).

The European Commission approved the deal last month, prompting Com Hem to apply to delist its shares from Nasdaq Stockholm. The final hurdle was crossed last week when The Swedish Companies Registration Office – the Bolagsverket – greenlit the merger.