Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica is bidding to take control of Terra Networks, the internet business that operates the Terra Lycos and Lycos portals.
Telefónica already holds 38% of the firm, and is offering other stockholders a total of €1.73 billion ($2.04bn; £1.24bn) in cash for the remaining 62%. The group is willing to pay €5.25 per share, a 15% mark-up on Terra’s share price over the last six months, valuing the business at €2.1bn. The telecoms titan will go through with the offer once it has amassed 75% of the web firm’s stock.
Originally comprising all Telefónica’s online assets, Terra floated in 1999 then merged with US firm Lycos a year later. It now operates the Terra Lycos brand in Spain and Latin America, and Lycos in the US and the rest of Europe.
Data sourced from: The Wall Street Journal Online; additional content by WARC staff
