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Yoigo in play again following takeover interest – report
TeliaSonera remains headline news, with the group now reported to be once again trying to sell its Spanish cellco Yoigo. This time around, there may be a buyer – which has quietly been buying up local telecoms assets – that fits the bill.
TeliaSonera (STO:TLSN) is repo
The move comes following interest from emerging operator Másmóvil (BME:MAS) and private equity firms, reports Bloomberg, which cited a price tag of €500m (US$567m).
Spokespeople for TeliaSonera and Másmóvil were not available to comment before the press deadline.
The Swedish incumbent first mandated Deutsche Bank to sell the unit in 2012, attracting interest from Vodafone and Orange, which both failed to meet the asking price and went on to buy respective fixed-line operators Ono and Jazztel. Each suitor had made offers below the then €1bn asking price.
Subsequently, Spain’s smallest MNO has been linked to Carlos Slim’s America Movil and Virgin Mobile.
Since the summer, TeliaSonera has seen its agreed Danish mobile JV with Telenor collapse due to regulatory pressure, and announced plans to sell its Eurasian businesses in order to focus on its core European businesses, and convergence. The Eurasian portfolio includes Uzbekistan (Ucell), Azerbaijan (Azercell), Georgia (Geocell), Kazakhstan (Kcell), Moldova (Moldcell), Nepal (Ncell), and Tajikistan (Tcell).
The most challenging of these has been Uzbekistan, where a controversial 3G tender led to the resignation of erstwhile CEO Lars Nyberg in early 2013.
In the meantime, the Latvian privatisation agency has invited the Swedish group to submit a strategic proposal to develop of triple-play operator Lattelecom and mobile carrier LMT, in which it holds minority stakes. TeliaSonera has also announced plans to combine its two Lithuanian subsidiaries: mobile carrier Omnitel and fixed-line operator Teo. It has not commented on plans for its 51% stake in Estonian operator Levira.
Yoigo is 77%-owned by TeliaSonera, with other shareholders including Spanish groups Actividades de Construccion & Servicios, Fomento de Construcciones & Contratas, and Telvent.
Másmóvil building presence
Másmóvil, founded in 2006 by Meinrad Sprenger Christian Nyborg, has quietly been building its customer base, which now numbers 400,000.
This month, it agreed to acquire a 50.1% stake in MVNO YouMobile, which serves 57,000 mainly Chinese customers, for €1.25m. It has the option to buy the rest of the company over the next 5 years.
Over the summer, it agreed to acquire fibre and copper broadband assets divested by Orange to meet European Commission conditions on its €3.4bn (US$3.7bn) acquisition of Jazztel.
The company already has its own LTE network covering 191 municipalities in 26 provinces, thanks to its €27m acquisition earlier this year of Neo Operador de Telecomunicaciones. Other acquisitions include VoIP service UppTalk and its MVNO UppMobile, B2B operator Xtra Telecom, and wholesale provider Quantum Telecom.
In June, it signed a 4G network-sharing agreement with Orange, and issued €27m (US$30m) of bonds due 30 June 2020 and carrying a 5.5% annual coupon.
On 1 October, the company reported H1 revenue of €59m (US$65.8m) and EBITDA of €2.8m, a significant rise from a respective €12.1m and €1.2m during the same period last year. It said it is forecasting FY 2015 revenue of €146.3m and an EBITDA of €11.5m.
