Portuguese conglomerate Sonae has exercised its call option to acquire French telco Orange’s 20% stake in Sonaecom, owner of wireless operator Optimus, for €113.5m (US$151.6m).
The put and call agreement was made in February following Sonaecom’s…
Portuguese conglomerate Sonae has exercised its call option to acquire French telco Orange’s 20% stake in Sonaecom, owner of wireless operator Optimus, for €113.5m (US$151.6m).
The put and call agreement was made in February following Sonaecom’s deal to merge Optimus with cableco Zon Multimedia, which was signed in January.
The price of the Sonaecom stake on both the put and the call options was set at €98.9m, but this would rise to €113.5m if Sonaecom was involved in a deal that consolidates or restructures the Portuguese telecommunications sector over the next two years.
Sonae has chosen to exercise its call option after obtaining the final regulatory approvals – from the local SEC and the antitrust regulator– for the Zon/Optimus merger this week. The completion of the merger appears to be a formality at this point.
When the put and call arrangement was announced in February Orange said the agreement with Sonae was in line with its stated objective of disposing its minority shareholdings under terms that mean it would benefit from potential consolidation in Portugal’s telecoms market.
Sonae’s Sonaecom shareholding will rise from 53.17% to 73.17%. The other shareholders are Banco Comercial Portugues, which holds 3.41%, and Sonaecom itself that holds 1.37%, with the remaining 22.05% trading on NYSE Euronext Lisbon.
