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Telenor Officially Sold its Business to Czech Billionaire

Monday, Mar 26, 2018

PPF Group today announces that it has agreed with Telenor to buy their telecommunications assets in Central and Eastern Europe, specifically in Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. Through this transaction, PPF will gain full control over Telenor’s mobile operators in the aforementioned countries, the rights to use the Telenor brand through the first half of 2021, and property used for the companies’ operations. The total purchase price for 100% of the shares is EUR 2.8 billion. The completion of the transaction is expected in June 2018, and is subject to the relevant regulatory approvals.

“With this purchase, PPF Group is expanding its telecommunications portfolio to four more countries, and fulfilling our long-held goal to become a mid-sized European operator and to use our experience to strengthen our market position,” said Ladislav Bartoníček, PPF Group’s shareholder responsible for telecommunications assets within PPF.

Telenor is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile services in Scandinavia, CEE and Asia, with an annual turnover of NOK 125 billion (2017) (EUR 12.7 billion)* and 178 million customers. The company has been active in Central and Eastern Europe for 25 years. Telenor entered the Hungarian market in 1994 as a local operator, Pannon. In 1996, it extended its reach to Montenegro, buying Mobi 063, and in 2006 it moved into Serbia. In 2013, Telenor entered the Bulgarian market by acquiring Globul. At the end of 2017, Telenor was providing its services to over 9 million customers across the four CEE countries, and was employing almost 3,500 staff there.

Source: www.novinite.com