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Monday, August 3, 2009
iBasis sues Royal KPN to stop takeover bid
By Mass High Tech Staff
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After rejecting a takeover offer from its major shareholder, Royal KPN NV, just last Friday, iBasis Inc. says it has filed a lawsuit against Royal KPN saying the company is in breach of its fiduciary duties to iBasis, and that Royal KPN is committing fraud by providing false and misleading information.
The suit, filed in the state of Delaware’s chancery court, was filed against Royal KPN, other KPN entities and members of KPN’s management and supervisory board. In its complaint, Burlington-based iBasis is asking the court to, among other things, stop KPN’s “grossly inadequate” tender offer.
KPN made an unsolicited offer to pay $1.55 a share for a 44 percent stake in iBasis’ common stock last month. The company, based in the Netherlands, already had owned a 56.3 share of iBasis stock at the time. However, a special committee of iBasis (Nasdaq: IBAS) board members convened July 29 to weigh in on the proposal and unanimously rejected it, calling it opportunistic and potentially damaging to iBasis and its minority shareholders.
iBasis asserts in its complaint, among other things, that KPN’s offer is inadequate, false and misleading, preventing iBasis stockholders from making an informed decision about whether to tender their shares.
Founded in 1996, iBasis is a wholesale provider of voice over Internet phone services. Its customers include KPN, KPN Mobile, Verizon, Vodafone, China Unicom, Skype and Telefonica, among others.
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