07-May-2020:  Chairman's Address to Shareholders

HTA Ltd (HTAL, ASX:HTA) owns 50% of Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), which is about to merge with TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM).  

The Chairman's address at the HTA AGM today contained the following information:

VHA-TPG MERGER UPDATE

This brings me to the proposed VHA-TPG merger which is being progressed as per the timeline of a mid-2020 implementation.  

The merger recently received the required clearances from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the US Federal Communications Commission, with a decision from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) expected shortly.  

The scheme and shareholder vote process of TPG Telecom will commence soon.  

Subject to shareholder approval being obtained and other conditions precedent being met, the existing TPG Telecom entity will delist from the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) as it is merged with VHA.  

The newly merged company, which will trade as TPG Telecom Limited, will be admitted to the ASX.  

Once the proposed merger is completed, for the first time ever, there will be a third full-service telecommunications provider in Australia.  

The proposed merger brings together two complementary businesses – one strong in mobile, one strong in fixed.  

With a combined value of approximately $15 billion, TPG Telecom Limited will have a much bigger profile in the Australian economy.

BENEFITS FOR HTAL SHAREHOLDERS

Once implemented, HTAL will own 25.05% of the new merged company.  

As an HTAL shareholder, you will continue to own shares in HTAL. How the HTAL share price responds to the proposed merger once implemented will, of course, be a matter for the market.  

The new merged company will have increased scale and scope, and there are a number of benefits that will be realised in the short, medium and long-term:

• The most significant of these is a stronger mobile network with more capacity thanks to the increased spectrum holdings and transmission capacity of the merged entity.
• The new merged company will be a strong house of brands with some of Australia’s most recognisable and popular names, including Vodafone, TPG and iiNet.
• The merged company will be able to initiate enhanced offerings for each of the brands and compete more effectively in the market. 
• The new merged company will also be a more formidable force in the Enterprise and public sector segments.
• The restructuring of current debt is expected to deliver a strong balance sheet with capacity for further investment if required.
• Revenue and costs synergies are expected to deliver increased capacity for increased investment in transformational projects across Network, Care, Digital and Technology.  And the merger will assist to accelerate the rollout of the 5G network rollout which commenced  in March 2020.

--- click on link above for the full address - this has just been part of it ---