(Bloomberg) -- Telecom titan Patrick Drahi is buying Sotheby’s for $2.7 billion, taking it private after more than three decades as a public company, and placing the world’s two leading auction houses under the control of French billionaires.
Sotheby’s shares had taken a beating in the past year as the company battled expenses and margins even as masterpieces and contemporary works set auction records. Activist investor Dan Loeb, whose Third Point hedge fund is the second-largest shareholder, had waged a battle against the auction house after first reporting a stake in 2013.
Drahi, who controls Altice Europe NV, a publicly traded telecommunications business with more than 30 million customers, has the money and background. An avid art collector, he’s worth $8.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“Sotheby’s is one of the most elegant and aspirational brands in the world,” Drahi, 55, said in the statement. “As a longtime client and lifetime admirer of the company, I am acquiring Sotheby’s together with my family.”
Investors will receive $57 in cash per share of Sotheby’s common stock under terms of the agreement, according to a statement Monday from the New York-based company. The offer represents a 61% premium to the closing price on Friday. Sotheby’s shares rose 57% to $55.58 as of 9:40 a.m. in New York. The enterprise value is $3.7 billion.
Drahi’s latest purchase is a surprise move for a man known for the telecoms empire he built, which grew out of a string of debt-financed acquisitions in France before eventually expanding to the U.S. in 2015. Drahi said he intends to “monetize” a small piece of the U.S. business for as much as $400 million to fund the Sotheby’s deal.
Altice Europe’s main asset is SFR in France. The business is finally returning to growth after years of customer losses amid cutthroat competition for subscribers in France. Shares in Altice Europe have gained more than 70% this year.
Drahi’s takeover would mean that French citizens will own the world’s two major auction houses. The family of Francois Pinault, founder of Paris-based luxury goods giant Kering SA, owns Christie’s after first buying a stake in the company from British billionaire Joe Lewis two decades ago.
“It was ripe for Sotheby’s to go private,” said Philip Hoffman, chief executive officer of the Fine Art Group and a former Christie’s executive. “Christie’s has more advantages being run privately and not having public quarterly reporting that puts pressure on their ability to do deals.”
Sotheby’s had been under pressure from Dan Loeb, whose Third Point hedge fund is the second-largest shareholder, with a 14.3% stake.
See more: Loeb’s Third Point to earn $85 million on Sotheby’s deal
“Today’s sale price affirms the value we saw when we first invested in Sotheby’s, and rewards long-term investors like Third Point who believed in its potential,” Loeb said Monday in a email.
LionTree Advisors is advising Sotheby’s, while BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley working with BidFair, an entity controlled by Drahi. BNP Paribas is sole financing provider.
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