(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management LLC has walked away from talks on a possible purchase of Danish phone company TDC A/S after an approach was rejected in July and the companies couldn't reach an agreement on valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new offer being considered by Apollo wasn't high enough for TDC, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. While Apollo could still be interested in acquiring the Danish company in the future, it's unlikely to come back with an offer in the short term, they said.
Shares in TDC fell as much as 10 percent, and traded 7.3 percent lower at 33.12 kroner as of 12:05 p.m. in Copenhagen.
The US private-equity firm had been working with financial advisers on a higher offer for TDC, people familiar with the matter said in September. Other buyout funds have decided not to move forward with separate offers, deeming TDC too expensive. Swedish rival Telia AB had been seen as a strong candidate to buy the company, but it doesn't have the financial bandwidth to do such a deal here and now, the people said.
Representatives for Apollo and TDC declined to comment.
TDC said in July it declined an approach from a potential buyer, calling the proposal inadequate. The company didn't identify the suitor. Chief Executive Officer Pernille Erenbjerg is trying to keep TDC's investment-grade rating while making the company's Danish business more competitive.
--With assistance from Peter Levring To contact the reporter on this story: Manuel Baigorri in London at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Tasneem Hanfi Brögger, Christian Wienberg
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