British mobile group Vodafone and Bucharest-listed telcom operator Digi, said on Thursday (Oct. 31) they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE Group), to buy its subsidiary Telekom Romania Mobile (TKRM).
Vodafone said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange that under the terms of the agreement it would buy TKRM and a “significant proportion” of its assets and Digi would also buy “certain assets”.
Financial details are not disclosed and Vodafone said talks remained at an early stage of discussion and there was no certainty that a deal would be agreed. Due diligence needs to be completed and regulatory approvals obtained.
News of the MoU comes five months after OTE, the largest tech company in Greece, agreed “in principle” to divest its Romanian business to West Network Invest, an investment vehicle majority owned by Digi and minority owned by Clever Media Group.
May’s negotiations were preceded in November 2023 by a proposed agreement to sell TRMC to Quantum Projects Group, which is controlled by Adrian Tomșa, the owner of Romanian broadcaster Clever Media Network (CMN). According to OTE’s regulatory filing today, the new MoU follows Tomșa’s decision to withdraw from the May agreement.
OTE wanted to offload its Telekom Romania asset since selling its controlling stake in Telekom Romania’s fixed-line player to Orange Romania in 2021. The sale at the time was attributed to difficult market conditions in Romania and framed as a way of improving the competitiveness of the respective fixed and mobile businesses.
Once the transaction is complete, OTE will have no remaining presence in Europe outside of its home market as the Greek operator has already sold Telekom Albania and Globul in Bulgaria. Meanwhile, Vodafone has planned investments of more than €200 million this year in Romania.
Vodafone: 6.5 million mobile customers (end of June 2024) Digi: 6.3 million revenue generating units (end of June 2024) TRMC owner DT: 3.6 million customers (end of June 2024)
