FINLAND - Nordic Capital walks away from TietoEnator bid

Cidron Services, Nordic Capital’s holding company, announced that an affiliate close to the company had sold 4.4% of the shares in TietoEnator on Monday 19 May. It was not confirmed whether Nordic Capital had acquired the stake or if it was sold to another buyer, but the market is interpreting this as a sign that Nordic Capital is no longer interested in the deal.

On Friday 16 May shareholders holding more than 10% of the shares in TietoEnator announced that they would not accept Nordic Capital’s bid, which was equal to EUR 15.50 per share, which sparked mounting speculation that the Nordic buyout house would walk away from the deal.

There has also been speculation that Blackstone will team up with Telenor and EDB Business Partner to make a “white-knight” bid. The consortium is rumoured to wish to buy TietoEnator in order merge it with EDB, a Norwegian IT services group. It has been said that that the “white knights” will launch a bid of EUR 18.5, 23% higher than Nordic Capital’s; a price analysts believe to be fair.

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