Board Targets IdeaisNet Takeover

Three board members of Brazilian internet company IdeiasNet say they plan to acquire up to all of the company’s outstanding shares at BRL5.23 per unit. The bid values the company at BRL544m, below the company’s market cap at close on Friday of BRL584m based on the BRL5.60 share price. The 3 executives, chairman Carlos Pedroza Aguinaga, Luiz Arthur Andrade Correia, and Lars Fuhrken-Batista, have relinquished their titles to pursue the acquisition, which can be done in conjunction with other investors, according to a statement. Fuhrken-Batista is the younger brother of Eike Batista, whose Centennial Asset Mining Fund has an 8.5% stake in IdeiasNet. Other leading shareholders include the Lorentzen family, with 9.8%, and UBS, with 7.4%. The offer to acquire the shares will be done through a public tender. In May 2008, Batista acquired a 6.5% stake in IdeiasNet, saying the company could eventually have a market cap of $1bn given its growth potential and business focused on installing internet connections across the country. The company went public in May 2000. After a plunge in the months following the beginning of the crisis, its stock is close to regaining its September 1 2008 level of BRL5.88.