France Telecom (FT) has agreed to sell Orange Austria to Hutchinson 3G for about €1.3bn (US$1.7bn) in a deal expected to make the Hong Kong-based company the third largest mobile operator in Austria.
FT announced today it has entered into a binding …
France Telecom (FT) has agreed to sell Orange Austria to Hutchinson 3G for about €1.3bn (US$1.7bn) in a deal expected to make the Hong Kong-based company the third largest mobile operator in Austria.
FT announced today it has entered into a binding agreement with Mid Europa Partners (MEP) to sell their combined 100% stake in OA to Hutchison 3G Austria, a subsidiary of billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa.
As widely speculated, Hutchison has agreed to sell on OA’s budget brand Yesss! Telekommunikation as well as frequencies, base station sites and certain intellectual property rights to Telekom Austria Group immediately after the acquisition – significantly increasing the deal’s chances of gaining approval of the European antitrust authorities.
FT said it expects the deal to be completed in mid-2012, subject to regulatory approvals.
FT expects to receive cash proceeds of about €70m for its 35% equity stake.
As with its €1.6bn sale of Orange Switzerland last December, the sale forms part of the company’s long-term strategy to focus on growth areas and to dispose minority stakes and underperforming assets.
As previously reported, Hutchison already operates in Austria under the brand name ‘Three’, however A1 and T-Mobile have the bulk of the market share.
According to Reuters, Hutchison’s acquisition of Orange Austria – which FT said had estimated revenues of €500m at the end of 2011 and a customer base of 2.3 million – would boost its market share to almost 22%.
