Austria's leading telco, Telekom Austria, is being eyed as a potential acquisition target by an investor group that includes Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, the chairman of Orascom Telecoms, according to a report in the Austrian magazine Format.
 |
|
Pecik |
The report said the group is being lead by the Austrian businessman Ronny Pecik, with the aim of building a 20 per cent stake in Telekom Austria worth around €750 million.
Those close to the deal say that the group could acquire 15 per cent of Telekom Austria's share from the US investor Capital Research and Management Company, but would need to disclose by local law any holding greater than 5 per cent to the Vienna Exchange.
Telekom Austria said that it had not received any notification of a potential bid for a substantial holding in the company.
Separately, T-Mobile Austria and Orange Austria are about to merge their wireless networks, according to a Telegeography report.
While both companies have dismissed the story as a "rumour," the two firms announced a 3G network sharing deal in April 2011 in relation to rural areas. Closer co-operation has been under discussion since before this, with events surrounding the merger Orange UK and T-Mobile UK being seen as a possible template. Contracts for the deal are expected to be signed by the end of this month, the report said.
For more:
- see this Format article (translated via Google Translate)
- see this Reuters article
- see this Telegeography article
Related Articles:
Rumour Mill: Russia's MTS bids for Telekom Austria
Serbian government rejects Telekom Austria's bid for Telekom Srbija
Telekom Austria sees IPTV subscriber additions decline
3 Austria prepares for LTE launch in 2011