KPN has confirmed a report that it is in talks about a sale of its German subsidiary E-Plus.
Earlier this afternoon the Financial Times reported that Telefonica is in advanced talks about an acquisition of E-Plus for US$6bn (€4.55bn). The merged…
KPN has confirmed a report that it is in talks about a sale of its German subsidiary E-Plus.
Earlier this afternoon the Financial Times reported that Telefonica is in advanced talks about an acquisition of E-Plus for US$6bn (€4.55bn). The merged entity would have an enterprise value of €16bn.
KPN’s statement does not name Telefonica as potential buyer.
Telefonica and Telefonica Deutschland did not immediately reply to requests for comment; E-Plus referred to its parent KPN.
According to the article a deal announcement could come as soon as later today, although negotiations are still continuing and one source was quoted as saying that there was no certainty of a deal being struck. According to the KPN statement, “at this stage the outcome is not yet clear”.
The parties are discussing a deal that would see Telefonica acquiring E-Plus, while KPN would get a small stake in Telefonica Deutschland, the Spanish incumbents German subsidiary, the FT wrote on its website.
One of the sources said that the transaction was backed by Carlos Slim, who is KPN’s largest shareholder since acquiring a 27.7% stake in the telco in 2012.
A merger of Telefonica Germany and E-Plus has long been mulled by the parties, and observers have highlighted the potential for significant synergies of such a transaction.
