Private equity fund Altice has reached an agreement to buy Portuguese telco Oni, Altice CFO Dennis Okhuijsen said.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and Altice hopes to complete the transaction within the next two months, he said in a phone…
Private equity fund Altice has reached an agreement to buy Portuguese telco Oni, Altice CFO Dennis Okhuijsen said.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and Altice hopes to complete the transaction within the next two months, he said in a phone call with TelecomFinance.
The Luxembourg-based firm is acquiring Oni from major shareholders The Riverside Company and Gestmin, which hold 60.9% and 34.6% stakes respectively.
Altice did not disclose the sale price but a figure around the €83m (US$108m) mark has been reported.
Riverside and Gestmin did not wish to comment and Oni did not reply to a request for comment.
A Portuguese newswire had previously reported that a sale was being held up because of the competing interests of major shareholders.
Riverside holds mostly equity in the telco while Gestmin’s holdings are predominantly in debt, and in the event of a sale Oni’s debt holders would be rewarded ahead of equity holders, meaning Gestmin would receive the lion’s share of the consideration.
Oni operates a next-generation network and specialises in providing internet, voice and data services to corporate clients and the state.
Altice – controlled by French businessman Patrick Drahi – owns Portuguese cableco Cabovisao, Hot Telecommunications in Israel, and a stake in French/Belgian/Luxembourgian cableco Numericable. Altice bought Cabovisao in February 2012 for €45m – its previous owner Montreal-based Cogeco Cable took a significant hit on the €465m it paid in 2006.
