João Mello Franco, chairman of the PT board said today that its shareholders had decided to postpone the vote on the company’s sale to the French company Altice until January 22nd, 2015.
It is not yet clear legally if additional points can be included for shareholder voting at the next meeting but the main vote remains the company’s sale to Altice which already owns Cabovisão and Oni in Portugal.
Asked if an additional ten days would be enough time for PT shareholders to gather sufficient information about the whole PT, Oi, Altice mess, the chairman said that the shareholders were OK with this new date.
The suggestion to postpone the vital vote came from two of the largest PT shareholders, Novo Banco and Telemar with just over 90% of those shareholders present agreeing the postponement on the grounds that the shareholders are not in possession of all relevant information for the vote. They believe the annulment of the merger with Oi is a possibility that must be taken into account before they can vote on disposing of PT.
To complicate matters, the Brazilian telecoms operator Oi, which is in the process of merging with PT, revealed today that its board is to seek clarification from its former Chief Executive, Zeinal Bava, ‘regarding the accuracy of the facts’ revealed in the recent PwC report, including his involvement in the fatal investment by PT of €897 million in Espírito Santo offshoot, Rioforte.
This disastrous decision changed completely the terms of the merger between PT and Oi as PT suddenly found itself €897 million light at the negotiating table.
Zeinal Bava diplomatically moved from PT to OI where he later resigned in October 2014 but his loss of position was not without its compensations. The Oi board agreed a severance package of €150,000 a month for three years, on top of the €50 million he has earned while at PT, plus additional bonuses during the PT merger with Oi.
PT's shares are currently worth around 5% of their value a year ago and Altice naturally insists that the sale of PT Portugal should go ahead and is the best solution for the former state owned monopoly.
In a statement sent to newsrooms this afternoon, the French company stated, "Altice notes the decision of the PT shareholders at the General Assembly where the postponement of the sale was agreed. Altice reiterates that the sale of PT Portugal is the best solution for the operator, for its employees and to maintain the company's investment programme."
Comments
This essentially is Altice's bargaining chip. PT's value has fallen partly because of BES but mainly because it has no more room to manoeuvre. It is out of time.
Portugal is 10 years late - as with TAP - and no doubt other state monoliths to be breaking up PT's hold on telecoms here.
It is still crazy that Portugal is not yet developed enough to have claw back clauses in employee contracts.
So that this chap who 'crashed' PT did not walk away with so much of the company.