Financial Daily – Santiago
This Monday, September 9, was decisive for WOM. That day was the deadline for those interested in the company to submit non-binding offers.within the framework of the marketing process carried out by the mobile firm, which involves finding a solution that allows it to get out of its financial difficulties and which may be a debt restructuring, the entry of a new investor or a combination of both.
Although this is a confidential process carried out by the special committee, made up of two of the six members of the board of directors who are completely independent – Timothy P. O’Connor Tim (restructuring specialist) and Christopher Sontchi (former Delaware bankruptcy judge) – sources indicated to DF that the companies presented non-binding offers. KKR, DigitalBridge, Telefónica with América Móvil and the ad hoc group of bondholders.
These are open offers that do not adhere to any pattern, as they can be a combination of several things.
Now the special committee, the Rothschild Bank and the legal advisors Richards, Layton and Finger, a Delaware specialist firm, They will have to evaluate all the offers and choose the most attractive one in terms of value for the company and its creditors..
The deadlines
Sources familiar with the Chapter 11 process explained that October 18 is the deadline to appoint the Stalking Horse Bidder and execute the agreement (if there is one).as stated in the Delaware court documents. While Monday, September 9, was the deadline for non-binding offers, November 15 is the deadline for binding offers.
The Stalking Horse Bidder is an initial bidder designated in Chapter 11 to set a minimum bid at an asset auction within the process. This bidder acts as a reference or starting point for other potential bids. This sets a floor for proposals, meaning that any interested party submitting a binding offer must exceed it to be considered..
Asked about the subject, WOM said they cannot refer to the process.
Interested parties
A few days ago, the non-binding offer for WOM by two international operators was announced: Telefónica (Movistar) and América Móvil (ClaroVTR). However, they were joined by others who have formally expressed their interest and who also operate in Chile.
One of them is DigitalBridge, an American private equity fund that in 2022 bought the fiber optic telecommunications firm Mundofounded in Concepción 30 years ago and which in 2019 had been acquired by the Chilean-Spanish fund Linzor Capital.
The company defines itself as a Fast-Growing Global Investment Firm that owns, operates and invests across the full spectrum of digital infrastructure: data centers, macro cell towers, fiber networks, small cells and edge infrastructure. It currently has US$84 billion of assets under management and manages 30 portfolios with companies that provide network and data center services..
Another interested party is the North American multinational fund that operates in our country: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR)Since 2021, it has controlled –together with Telefónica, which has 40%– the firm On*Net Fibra, a wholesale competitor in the broadband segment available for the telecommunications market in Chile. They also have an independent business in Colombia.
In almost 50 years of existence, the fund has mutated its profile: it started as a pioneer in venture capital in the United States and, over the decades, it took more solid steps on its path through Wall Street.In its history, it has emblematic cases such as the US$24 billion acquisition of the manufacturer of Oreo cookies in 1988..
The company has extensive experience in telecommunications in the deployment of fiber optic networks, such as Fibercop Italy; HyperOptic, in the United Kingdom; Metronet, in the United States and Open Dutch Fiber, in the Netherlands. In March of this year, it purchased 1,100 wireless communications towers from Colombia Móvil (Tigo Colombia), a subsidiary of Millicom..
The bidder that stands out is the ad hoc group of bondholders, the same one that initially opposed the company’s reorganization taking place in the United States. The group is composed of WOM bondholders, mainly BlackRock, Moneda, Amundi, Man GLG Partners and Loomis Sayles..
A couple of weeks ago it was revealed that the former CEO of WOM, Chris Bannister, is part of the advisors of this group. The executive was dismissed from the company just three days after it filed for Chapter 11 in April, but he was quick to return to the case because on June 20 he was contacted by bondholders to work on a proposal to maximize collections.. A key day because at that time the ad hoc group raised the demand for WOM to move its reorganization process and it was decided to carry out a marketing process.
