Sale To Tiscali
On September 7, 2000, World Online and Tiscali, an Italian ISP, announced their intention to combine the two companies to create a pan-European Internet network company. The new company would provide new telco, media and e-commerce services to the largest pan-European customer base.
The combination maintained the Tiscali name and its headquarters in Sardinia, Italy. Renato Soru, the founder of Tiscali, became Executive Chairman with James Kinsella becoming Chief Executive.
Tiscali emerged from the all-share deal with 56.7% of the new company while World Online had 43.3%. The merger was essentially a sale for $5.1 billion, creating, with over 6 million subscribers, the second-largest ISP in Europe, after Deutsche Telekom's T-Online.
The move gave Tiscali access to the cash raised by World Online at its IPO. The new company was set to have a market capitalisation of about $11.2 billion and be a market leader in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and the Czech Republic.
In November 2000 the HQ of World Online was raided concerning allegations of insider trading. In February 2001, Kinsella resigned from his position after clashing with Soru. Kinsella went on to become Chairman of Interoute, a large European network operator owned by the Sandoz Family Foundation. Brink is now a Dutch tax exile living in Brasschaat, Belgium. Renato Soru was elected President of the Sardinia Region of Italy in 2004.
Read more about this topic: World Online
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