Germany’s Drillisch is taking its mobile service to the high street with the acquisition of up to 301 retail outlets from Telefonica.
Drillisch will take over 102 Telefonica-branded shops and around 199 partner stores from the middle of the year, Telefonica announced on Wednesday, without disclosing the value of the deal.
Around 300 employees will move to Drillisch as part of the agreement, joining Yourphone, the former E-Plus reseller and MVNO business it agreed to buy in November in the wake of E-Plus’ acquisition by Telefonica.
"For us this agreement is a good opportunity to set up our own shop network and expand our market position with the help of established shops of Telefónica Deutschland," said Paschalis Choulidis, a spokesman for the Drillisch board, in a statement.
"We will also benefit from the know-how of the employees," he added.
The merger of E-Plus and O2 Germany that resulted from the Telefonica deal is enabling Drillisch to establish itself in the country’s mobile market. One of the conditions of the deal led to Telefonica agreeing to sell up to 30% of the capacity on its German mobile networks to Drillisch.
In addition, earlier this year Drillisch agreed to buy handset retailer The Phone House Deutschland, which has 30 of its own stores and 50 that it operates for Deutsche Telekom.
Telefonica, meanwhile, is still working on the integration of its German mobile operations.
"We are reducing overlaps in our shop network and – together with Drillisch – at the same time are securing jobs," said Markus Haas, chief operating officer at Telefonica Deutschland.
The telco has 1,750 own-brand and partner shops in Germany, some of which are in close proximity to one another, it said, reiterating plans to shrink its retail footprint by a third over the next five years.
Separately, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Germany’s antitrust regulator has approved United Internet’s acquisition of a stake in Drillisch.
United Internet in April announced that it had agreed to purchase a further 9.1% stake in Drillisch, becoming the firm’s largest shareholder with 20.7%. The deal required the approval of Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
"As a strategic shareholder, we want to accompany the further development of Drillisch AG and profit from its growth," United Internet CEO Ralph Dommermuth said at the time.
The company made it clear that it will not raise its stake above 30%, a move that would trigger a mandatory buyout offer, nor will it make a voluntary takeover bid.
