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One of the biggest and most commentated deals in the Bulgarian
history is now over after Telekom Austria signed a deal to
buy 100 pct in MobilTel on June 1. The deal will be finalised
in July when the contracted price will be paid off and the
shares will be transferred.
The officially disclosed price of the deal totals 1.6 bln
euro and includes several components: 100 mln euro deferred
contingent payment to be cleared by end-2005, made contingent
upon MobilTel achieving certain financial and operating criteria
in third quarter of 2005; second deferred contingent payment
that is now unconditional; 80 mln euro paid by Telekom Austria
in the first quarter of 2005 as a call option for MobilTel;
the net debt of MobilTel which will be assumed by Telekom
Austria at closing.
The net debt of MobilTel stood at 510.9 mln euro at end-March
2005, data from the company's website showed. That means that
the net acquisition price of MobilTel is 1.1 bln euro.
This has been the fourth change in MobilTel's ownership since
the telecom's establishment in 1994. The operator was first
sold out by its founder Krassimir Stoichev to Eaetern Market
Telekom Fund (as spelt by the source) and Bulsim, both of
which were controlled by Russian businessman Michael Chorny,
in 1997. In early 2002, MobilTel was sold to Austrian MobilTel
Holding at an unofficial price of $800 mln. The third ownership
change took place when a 40 pct stake in the mobile phone
operator was sold out to seven financial investors ABN AMRO
Capital, Citigroup Investments, Communications Venture Partners,
Sandler Capital Management, Innova Capital, Global Finance
and 3TS Venture Partners. The official price of the deal was
not disclosed but the price of the whole company was then
evaluated at 1.2 bln euro. The current change began at the
end of 2004 when Telekom Austria signed an exclusivity agreement
with MobilTel owners. The deal was initially supposed to be
finalised in the autumn of 2005 but was later on speeded up.
The current ownership change in MobilTel is the first time
when a big and renowned international telecom enters the cell
phone operator. According to Telekom Austria official statement,
MobilTel will be integrated in Telekom Austria's mobile arm
Mobilkom and the introduction of new products on the domestic
market will be speeded up, which means higher quality services
for local consumers. In near future MobilTel is expected to
start offering fixed-line phone and third generation services.
The emergence of a big player on the domestic telecommunication
market will coincide with the start of the third mobile operator
in the country - BTC Mobile.
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