Triple-play operator UNE EPM has agreed to buy ETB’s 24.99% in Tigo Colombia. The US$240m transaction gives it a 49.99% stake in the wireless operator.
Millicom, which controls Tigo with a 50% plus one share stake, has agreed to merge its Colombian…
Triple-play operator UNE EPM has agreed to buy ETB’s 24.99% in Tigo Colombia. The US$240m transaction gives it a 49.99% stake in the wireless operator.
Millicom, which controls Tigo with a 50% plus one share stake, has agreed to merge its Colombian operations with UNE EPM to create a unified quad-play operator.
UNE EPM, held by Medellin-owned conglomerate EPM, reportedly decided to buy ETB out of Tigo to hasten decision-making and provide a cleaner corporate structure.
ETB, a telco owned by the city of Bogota, said it decided to sell its Tigo stake as it was a passive investment and it struggled to gain synergies from it, according to a local report.
The stake sale is subject to the regulatory approval of Millicom’s merger of its Colombian assets with UNE EPM, which the companies hope to receive in Q1 2014.
That transaction requires approvals from the Superintendencia de Sociedades (corporations authority), Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (consumer protection and competition authority), Superintendencia Financiera (financial authority) and the Autoridad Nacional de Television (television industry regulator).
