The Liechtenstein Parliament has ruled against Swisscom’s proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Telecom Liechtenstein.
The spokesperson for deputy prime minister Thomas Zwiefelhofer, who is also responsible for telecoms, confirmed that…
The Liechtenstein Parliament has ruled against Swisscom’s proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Telecom Liechtenstein.
The spokesperson for deputy prime minister Thomas Zwiefelhofer, who is also responsible for telecoms, confirmed that parliament “regretfully” decided yesterday to reject the proposed transaction.
The deal would have seen the Swiss incumbent acquire a 75% in Telecom Liechtenstein, reported to be worth about CHF23m (US$24.1m), along with network infrastructure owned by state-owned powerco Liechtensteinische Kraftwerke (LKW).
One of the reasons members of parliament gave for rejecting the deal was that they wanted the state to retain ownership of the communications network, the spokesperson said.
Liechtenstein consequently retains full ownership of the Vaduz-based telco, while LKW remains in control of the network infrastructure.
Asked whether Swisscom is likely to appeal the decision, the spokesperson said he does not think so as the deal was driven by the Liechtenstein government. “As there is obviously no majority in favour of this deal, Swisscom won’t be going against the political will,” he said.
A spokesperson for Swisscom said the company regrets the parliament’s “political decision” but accepts it.
“We would have appreciated to become a telecom operator for Liechtenstein with a long-term focus,” he said, adding that Swisscom will retain its own mobile operations in the smaller nation.
Swisscom signed a declaration of intent with Liechtenstein to acquire the stake in its incumbent telco in September last year and planned to incorporate it within its own business.
Swisscom CEO Carsten Schloter told TelecomFinance later in the year that, while the investment was not large in financial terms, it would help “to solve a political issue in a country that’s very close to Switzerland”.
Earlier this month, the Liechtenstein government urged the nation’s parliament to approve the deal. At the time, the deputy prime minister’s spokesperson said Telecom Liechtenstein had been “hard pressed by the continued erosion of margins and the small market”.
