With the Vodafone transaction, buyer 4iG could be a real challenger to Magyar Telekom.Continue reading
According to officially confirmed press reports, PPF Group and Etisalat are in talks on a “strategic cooperation” with the group’s subsidiaries Yettel and Cetin, which could involve a share transfer from the Czech side, according to inside sources – reports IT news portal hwsw.hu.
PPF, one of the largest investment groups in the Eastern European region, and the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, or Etisalat, are negotiating a close cooperation agreement, the Serbian news portal nova.rs reports, according to the Sofia-based Kapital weekly.
The deal, which is still in the early stages of negotiation, could include the partial sale of the Serbian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian subsidiaries Yettel and CETIN, according to unofficial insider information.
Photo: Pixabay.com
The fact of the negotiations was confirmed to Kapital by PPF, whose spokesman Leos Rousek said that the two companies are currently discussing a strategic cooperation involving part of the investment group’s telecom interests in the region (excluding the Czech Republic), which is “mutually beneficial” for the parties.
According to the report,
Etisalat would buy at least a quarter of the shares in the Yettel and CETIN subsidiaries concerned,
which in Hungary would also mean – if a potential deal is indeed done under such conditions – that a third owner would be added to PPF and the Hungarian state.
Photo: Facebook/Etisalat UAE
PPF bought 100% of the shares of Telenor Hungary, the predecessor of Yettel, and three other regional Telenor subsidiaries from the Norwegian parent company in 2018, and less than a year later, 25% of the Hungarian stake was transferred to the then state-owned Antenna Hungária. Subsequently, 4iG acquired a majority stake in Antenna Hungária, and in March the company exchanged its Yettel package with the state for Vodafone shares.
Meanwhile, the other party, Etisalat, is becoming increasingly active in the European telecom sector and is now the largest shareholder in the UK Vodafone Group, with more than 14% of the company’s shares.
This acquisition could be Etisalat’s first major investment in the telecom market in the Eastern European region.
Featured image: Facebook/Etisalat UAE