(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Xavier Niel raised his offer for Millicom International Cellular SA to about $4.4 billion after the Latin American phone carrier had rejected an earlier bid as too low.
Niel’s Atlas Luxco Sarl, has bid $25.75 a share in cash, up from a previous offer of $24 a share, it said in a statement Friday. Millicom’s independent board committee last month had rejected the previous deal from Atlas, which in turn responded by saying there were no new arguments for a higher price.
Atlas has said it wants to expand the reach and capacity of Millicom’s networks and distribution capabilities to grow its customer base. Millicom, which provides fixed and mobile telecom services under the Tigo brand to more than 50 million subscribers in Latin America, was in talks last year on a possible sale to Apollo Global Management Inc. and Claure Group. Niel took a stake in the company amid those discussions, and his investment company is Millicom’s top shareholder, owning 29% of shares outstanding in the company.
A representative for Luxembourg-based Millicom didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The acceptance period expires on Aug. 16.
Millicom shares fell 1.3% to 263.20 Swedish kronor ($24.56) in Stockholm trading on Thursday. The stock had gained 46% this year.
Separately, Millicom is in talks to buy Telefonica SA’s business in Colombia for about $400 million. It’s unclear whether Atlas Luxco would support the takeover. Reacting to the proposed Telefonica-Millicom deal, Niel’s firm said in a statement earlier this week that it “believes in the merits of in-market consolidation on a case-by-case basis” but noted that there was no final agreement between the carriers.
(Updates with additional details about the deal throughout)
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