Incumbent Telecom Italia is set to acquire a 71% stake in local holding group 4GH, the owner of 200 specialist phone retail stores in Italy, for E8.3m.
TI announced that it had reached an agreement with BS Investimenti IV Fund, BSBS Private Equity and…
Incumbent Telecom Italia is set to acquire a 71% stake in local holding group 4GH, the owner of 200 specialist phone retail stores in Italy, for E8.3m.
TI announced that it had reached an agreement with BS Investimenti IV Fund, BSBS Private Equity and other private shareholders for the stake.
Local holding company GIR Srl will hold the remaining 29% of the company.
Marco Patuano, TI’s COO, said: “This acquisition enables TI to strengthen its position in the specialist retail of devices for telephony through direct, ongoing control of a strategic asset that will guarantee the company access to Italy’s largest retail markets.
“Moreover, this move enables TI to get even closer to its customers by expanding its on-the-ground presence. Our objective is to boost the take-up of mobile broadband, which is destined to become a mass-market phenomenon now that the internet is a reality on mobile phones.”
The acquisition of 4GH, which last year posted revenues of around E140m, is awaiting clearance from the Italian Anti-Trust Authority.
It follows a spate of activity in the phone retailer market that has been seen across Europe recently.
In March, UK handset retailer Phones4U was snapped up by PE firm BC Partners in a deal estimated to be worth between £600m and £700m. The following month saw mobile operator Vodafone acquire Dutch telecoms retailer MacIntosh Retail for E120m.
Meanwhile, Russian mobile retailer Euroset has appointed Alfa Bank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and VTB Capital as joint global coordinators and book runners for a planned London listing, which would value it at US$2.7bn-US$3.3bn.
