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In an interview with Világgazdaság, a Hungarian economic site, Gellért Jászai, chairman of 4iG Nyrt., an IT service management company, said that the synergies of the Vodafone acquisition could be further enhanced by one-off items such as the 25 percent stake in Yettel or the sale of DIGIMobil’s infrastructure.
According to the chairman of 4iG, Vodafone also has a significant fixed line infrastructure, specialist and customer base, which could provide them with the greatest synergies and a dominant market position, which is why they decided to acquire it.
News of the acquisition of Vodafone Hungary emerged a few weeks ago, and the other owner of the company, alongside 4iG, will reportedly be the Hungarian state. 4iG also owns shares in Yettel, the second largest mobile phone operator in Hungary, formerly known as Telenor, and Digi, a telecommunications company.
Jászai said that Vodafone has HUF 255 billion in debt, which may reduce the HUF 715 billion (EUR 1,8 billion) purchase price, but the exact figures will only be seen when the transaction closes. He added that
they estimate a synergy effect of HUF 150 billion (EUR 373 million) present value, which is a very conservative estimate.
As it turns out, the preparatory work for the transaction has been going on for more than a year, and for 4iG it is important to be able to close it in a short timeframe for several reasons. It is also important for them to be able to start integrating their Hungarian businesses with Vodafone as soon as possible.
Jászai stressed that after the closing of the transaction,
they would like to maximize the cross-selling synergies from mobile and fixed telecoms services and the consolidation of their digital infrastructure and networks, which is one of the key objectives of the acquisition.
In the meantime, 4iG is not only interested in the Vodafone deal, but also in the Israeli company SpaceCom. Although it was previously planned to acquire a 51 percent stake in it through HungaroDigitel, it will end up being 20 percent as things stand. Jászai added that the acquisition of a minority stake could also fit into the company’s strategy. Furthermore, 4iG is also interested in expanding in the Balkans, the chairman said, adding that they see significant growth potential in the telecoms markets of the Balkan region.
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