The CEO of Telecom Italia (TI) does not know when the US$960m sale of its controlling stake in Telecom Argentina to David Martinez’s Fintech Group will close.
Marco Patuano, quoted speaking at the sidelines of an event in Rome, said he had been in…
The CEO of Telecom Italia (TI) does not know when the US$960m sale of its controlling stake in Telecom Argentina to David Martinez’s Fintech Group will close.
Marco Patuano, quoted speaking at the sidelines of an event in Rome, said he had been in Argentina in recent days talking to authorities, but that telecoms regulator Secom had not given a specific timeframe to rule on the deal.
However, the Italian executive was reported to say that there were no obstacles in the way of completing a deal and that it was going ahead.
Approval for the acquisition, agreed last November, had been complicated by Fintech’s interest in Cablevision, but at the end of May the US group decided to exit the cableco.
Earlier that month Telecom Argentina CEO Stefano de Angelis had indicated to investors that Fintech’s interest in Cablevision was complicating the regulatory process. Speaking on a conference call De Angelis added that the agreement between TI and Fintech ran until 13 August, and suggested that there would be developments in Q3.
TI completed a small part of the US$960m disposal of its controlling 22.7% stake to Fintech last December.
At the time TI said it has completed the sale of direct and indirect stakes in Telecom Argentina held by its subsidiary Tierra Argentea to Fintech for a total of US$109m.
The bulk of the deal involves the transfer of TI’s 68% stake in Sofora Telecommunicaciones for US$751m. Sofora in turn controls the Argentinian telco’s majority shareholder Nortel Inversora.
Fintech will pay a further US$100.5m, providing TI fulfils certain agreements to provide Telecom Argentina with services and technical support for the next three years, and subject to other conditions.
Providing the second part of the deal closes, Fintech – the vehicle of low-profile Mexican investor David Martinez – plans to launch a tender offer for the remaining shares in Telecom Argentina.
