Barclays sees no signs of progress on potential Millicom bid, downgrades stock
30/05/2023 09:29
** Barclays cuts Millicom International Cellular
TIGOsdb.ST to "equal weight" from "overweight", saying it sees
no evidence of progress on a potential bid from Apollo GM and
Claure Group for the Luxembourg-based telecom group
** The broker adds Millicom's "lacklustre" Q1 results "do
little to improve the likelihood of a satisfactory offer"
** It also notes French billionaire Xavier Niel has
gradually upped his stake in the company, which provides telecom
services in Latin America through its TIGO brand, to 24%
** Barclays says it is unclear whether an offer from
Apollo/Claure would be considered under Sweden's or Luxembourg's
jurisdiction, but notes that if Niel's ownership were to reach
29.99%, his approval would likely be needed for a bid to be
successful
** Out of ten analysts that cover Millicom, four rate the
stock "strong buy" or "buy" and six "hold"
** Millicom's Stockholm-listed shares are down 1.4% at 0814
GMT
(Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn)
((Greta.RosenFondahn@thomsonreuters.com))