Belgian player Telenet Group’s majority shareholder Liberty Global revealed plans to table an offer to buy out minority shareholders for around €930 million, a move backed by the operator’s board.

Liberty Global already owns a 59.18 per cent stake in Telenet, which runs mobile operator Base in the country along with selling fixed and TV services through its main brand.

In a statement, Liberty Global detailed a plan to launch a public offer for the remainder of the operator at a price of €22 per share through its Belgian subsidiary.

Should its stake when added to Telenet’s treasury shares meet a threshold of 95 per cent, the company will be able to launch a squeeze-out process to acquire the rest.

Liberty Global said the sum it planned to offer stakeholders represented a 59 per cent premium on the share price as of 15 March.

An update published in December 2022 showed Telenet had almost 42.3 million publicly-listed shares. At the price being offered, it would cost around €930 million for the buyout.

A 3.1 per cent stake of Telenet is held by the operator as treasury shares following previous buybacks. Liberty Global noted its local subsidiary would fund the purchases through loans.

Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said the sum set to be offered was at “an attractive premium”.

“We welcome the unanimous decision of Telenet’s board of directors to support and recommend this offer. We are proud of how Telenet has evolved in recent years, and we are fully committed to Belgium and all the company’s stakeholders.”