Hutchison has closed the takeover of Orange Austria. The company announced that the transaction was finalised today. “This step also represents the completion of a long drawn-out takeover process, following the approval of all of the relevant Austrian…
Hutchison has closed the takeover of Orange Austria. The company announced that the transaction was finalised today. “This step also represents the completion of a long drawn-out takeover process, following the approval of all of the relevant Austrian and European authorities,” Hutchison said in a statement.
“With this acquisition, Hutchison 3G Austria has become the third largest mobile operator in Austria.”
In a separate statement Telekom Austria confirmed that it has also completed the takeover of no frills brand Yesss! from Orange – a transaction that was part of the much larger €1.3bn sale of Orange Austria.
Telekom Austria said: “After fulfilment of all conditions, in particular closing of the indirect acquisition of Orange Austria by [Hutchison], the closing of the transaction and the payment of the purchase price occurred today.”
However, not all deals between Telekom Austria and Orange closed today. Besides the takeover of Yesss! Telekom Austria had also agreed to acquire frequencies, base station sites, and certain intellectual property rights currently owned by Orange Austria, for a total amount of up to €390m.
“The closing of the acquisition of the other assets will follow gradually,” the company said in its statement.
Recently it had emerged that competitor T- Mobile Austria has filed an appeal against a decision by telecoms regulator TKK clearing the transfer of the frequencies to Telekom Austria.
