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Saudi Telecom Company (STC) are considering the potential acquisition of Altice Portugal, which is owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, according to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources
Altice is currently suffering under a debt pile of around $60 billion, which Drahi is attempting to rectify. The company’s Portuguese operation, which trades under the name Meo, is regarded as a straight forward asset for the company to dispose of in order to reduce its debt. Meo is the market leader in Portugal, with a 48% share of the mobile market.
Portugese paper O Jorno Económico noted that this is the first of three non-binding offers made which are all reportedly under Drahi’s €7 billion valuation that Bloomberg reported last month. The article did not go into further detail of the other companies.
As well as its high debt, Altice faces issues regarding Armando Pereira, the co-founder and former COO of Altice, who was arrested in July this year as part of a tax fraud, corruption and money laundering allegation. Altice has noted that it is fully complying with the investigation and has cut ties with all those involved in the investigation. The company’s full statement, made last month, can be read here. The scandal is undoubtedly casting a shadow over the company as it pushed for the sale of its Portuguese branch.
Back in September, STC completed the acquisition of a 9.9% stake in Telefónica for €2.1 billion. The deal made STC group Telefónica’s largest shareholder.
STC have made a number of investments across the tech and telecoms sectors in recent months, both within Saudi Arabia and globally. Most recently, STC completed the acquisition of tower assets from Netherlands-based United Group in a deal worth €1.22 billion.
However, STC is not the only Middle Eastern, state-owned telco investing in major European operators. UAE-based e& has slowly been growing its stake in Vodafone Group since 2022, most recently announcing their intention to increase their equity in business to 20%.
Earlier last month, Altice also announced its intention to sell the control of its data centre business, selling a 70% share to Morgan Stanley for €535 million.
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