Bidding war over Telegraaf Media Group continues as Talpa ups offer

Talpa is not giving up in the struggle to take over the Telegraaf Media Group (TMG), despite the supervisory board's decision to negotiate exclusively with rival Mediahuis about a takeover. On Wednesday morning, Talpa increased its bid to 6.35 euros per share, well above the 5.90 euros per share Mediahuis offered for TMG, Het Parool reports.

Talpa finds it "incomprehensible" that the TMG board decided to break off negotiations with Talpa and speak only to Mediahuis, a decision that was made on Tuesday afternoon.

In December major Telegraaf share holder Van Puijenbroek of VP Exploitatie announced its support for Mediahuis in the takeover deal. Putting Johan de Mol's Talpa at a severe disadvantage.

Nevertheless, Talpa hopes to resume talks with TMG in the near future and wants the board to consider its higher offer. The company sees TMG's future as a separate part of Talpa, with its own brands, own management and independent editorial boards. 

Mediahuis also gave verbal guarantees of TMG's independence. 

Mediahuis and VP Exploitatie, which is currently the majority shareholder with nearly 42 percent of the TMG shares, called Talpa's bid no longer realistic. "Offering more money is meaningless because Talpa will not get a majority and they know that", Guus van Puijenbroek of VP said to Het Parool. "We told Talpa in a personal conversation that our choice for the combination TMG-Mediahuis is final. This means that our shares will go nowhere else but to a combination with Mediahuis, because it has the most convincing strategy and offers a safe haven for the company."