July 12 (SeeNews) - Dutch-based multi-play and media provider United Group said it has agreed to acquire a 54.31% stake in Croatian fixed internet and pay-TV services provider OT-Optima Telekom [ZSE:OPTE].
“United Group, which provides telecommunications services in Croatia under the Telemach brand, has signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire the 17.41% stake held by Hrvatski Telekom and the 36.90% interest owned by Zagrebacka Banka,” United Group said in a statement on Friday, without disclosing the value of the deal.
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“The deal is a logical step in United Group’s commitment to providing telecommunications services of the newest generation to Croatian consumers,” the company, which provides telecommunications services in Croatia under the Telemach brand, noted.
United Group is investing 130 million euro ($154.4 million) to upgrade Telemach Croatia’s mobile network to improve quality, expand coverage and offer a full 5G experience, and a further 100 million euro in optic network on which it is already offering Croatian customers fixed telephony and superfast broadband internet with speeds from 300 Mbps to 2 Gbps.
When the takeover gets completed, some 125,000 broadband subscribers and 55,000 pay-TV customers served by Optima Telekom will gradually benefit from these investments and new modern services that will bring convergence with mobile and improve both quality and the customer experience, the statement said.
Under the terms of the deal, its completion depends on a change in Croatia’s Electronic Media Act, which now prohibits vertical integration between pay TV broadcasters and distributors. The deal is also conditional upon approval by relevant competition authorities.
“This agreement is a step further in our plan to transform Telemach Croatia into a fully converged telecom operation offering the full range of telco services – including TV – on our own infrastructure,” said Telemach Croatia CEO Adrian Jezina. “The Croatian parliament is expected to review the Electronic Media Act soon and we are confident that the law will be changed soon and aligned with practices in other EU member states, allowing us to complete this deal and add TV to our wider telco offering,” Jezina added.
Optima is listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. After obtaining regulatory approvals, United Group will launch a tender offer for the rest of Optima's shares.
OT-Optima Telekom's net loss widened to 4.57 million kuna ($724,00/610,000 euro) in the first quarter of 2021, compared with a net loss of 4.08 million kuna in the same period of 2020, as the company's total operating revenue decreased by 3.5% to 108.4 million kuna, mostly due to a fall in the number of users, Optima said in an unaudited consolidated report filed with the Zagreb bourse on Thursday.
The company's shares closed flat at 4.25 kuna on Friday.
At the beginning of 2021, United Group completed the acquisition of Bulgarian multi-platform media company Nova Broadcasting Group in line with its strategy to own both telecommunications and media assets in the markets it serves. In 2020, United Group bought TELE2 Croatia, now renamed Telemach Croatia, Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) operating under the Vivacom brand and Greek telecommunications and pay-TV provider Forthnet. The group is also present in Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
(1 euro= 7.494 Croatian kuna)