Chinese operator Citic Telecom is reportedly in talks with Portugal Telecom (PT) as it looks to increase its stake in Macanese telco CTM.
In October Citic confirmed it was in talks with Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) to acquire its 51% stake in…
Chinese operator Citic Telecom is reportedly in talks with Portugal Telecom (PT) as it looks to increase its stake in Macanese telco CTM.
In October Citic confirmed it was in talks with Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) to acquire its 51% stake in the Macau business with a price tag in the region of US$600m to US$800m being touted.
PT owns a 28% stake in CTM and Portuguese business paper Diario Financio reported that Citic is in talks with the company, citing an email from Citic’s CEO Norman Yuan.
PT declined to comment on the report.
Citic, majority owned by a Chinese state-owned investment vehicle, currently owns 20% of CTM while the Macau government owns the final 1%.
PT and Citic’s working relationship dates back to 1981 when they established the business together, along with CWC and the local postal service.
CTM had EBITDA of US$165m last year and is the leading mobile operator in the territory.
CTM also has a monopoly on fixed-line and broadband services in the former Portuguese colony and serves the special administrative region’s many casinos.
