biz.yahoo.com
Monday July 19, 1:35 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: UnitedGlobalCom
United Completes IPO of Australian Subsidiary
Sells 19% of the Company for A$423 million (US$280 million)
DENVER, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- UnitedGlobalCom (''United'') (Nasdaq: UCOMA - news) announced today the pricing of the initial public offering of its Australian subsidiary, Austar United Communications Limited (''Austar United'' or the ''Company'') (Australian Stock Exchange: AUN).
A total of 90 million new ordinary shares representing approximately 19% of the Company were offered for sale at a price of A$4.70 (US$3.11) for total gross proceeds of A$423 million (US$280 million). The underwriters have been granted an over allotment option of an additional 13.5 million shares. At listing, Austar United will have an equity market capitalization of approximately A$2.2 billion (US$1.5 billion), excluding the over allotment option.
Immediately following completion of the offering, United will own approximately 361.3 million shares, representing approximately 76% of Austar United's ordinary shares on a fully diluted basis. SaskTel International and management of Austar United will own approximately 5%. The closing is set for July 27, 1999.
Austar United's shares will begin trading on July 20, 1999 on the Australian Stock Exchange. Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter were the Joint Global Coordinators of the offering.
In conjunction with the initial public offering, United also announced the successful completion of its consent solicitation regarding certain amendments to the indentures governing the UIH Australia/Pacific 14% Senior Discount Notes due 2006.
Austar United is a leading broadband communications provider in Australia and New Zealand. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Austar Entertainment, the company is the second largest pay TV operator in Australia reaching over 1/3 of the market with its digital satellite network and serving over 330,000 subscribers today. Austar United is also a significant owner/distributor of pay TV channels through its 50% owned programming venture XYZ Entertainment. Additionally, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Saturn Communications, the Company is the first and only integrated provider of video, voice and Internet/data services in New Zealand.
United is a leading provider of video, voice, data and programming services outside of the United States, with operations in over 20 countries throughout the world. Including announced transactions, United's operating systems reach approximately 12.8 million homes passed and serve approximately 6.4 million video subscribers, over 175,000 telephony access lines and over 50,000 Internet access customers. Additionally, United's programming services reach over 6.4 million subscribers worldwide.
''Safe Harbor'' Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding UnitedGlobalCom's business which are not historical facts, including proposed consent period dates and Austar United's planned initial public offering, are ''forward-looking statements'' that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ''Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' in United's and UIH Australia/Pacific's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
SOURCE: UnitedGlobalCom
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