Freenet to pay down debt with Sunrise bonanza: CEO

BERLIN: Freenet is being richly rewarded for its bet on Swiss telecom Sunrise after backing Liberty Global’s $7.4 billion takeover, and will use most proceeds to pay down debt, CEO Christoph Vilanek said.

The German telecoms investor has signed a binding agreement to tender its 24.2% stake at 110 Swiss francs after the Sunrise board backed Liberty’s cash offer. It paid 70 Swiss francs.

“It’s a fair valuation,” Vilanek told Reuters. “We believe that a merger on sensible terms makes sense.”