News
Swedish operator negotiating the sale of its Spanish mobile business to U.K. investment firm.
TeliaSonera and Zegona Communications on Friday announced that they are holding exclusive talks with regard to the U.K. investment firm making a possible takeover offer for Spanish mobile operator Yoigo.
Zegona published a statement confirming the exclusivity deal and sounding the usual note of caution that the negotiations may not result in a transaction.
"On the basis of the terms currently under discussion, the consideration for the acquisition may cause the transaction to be classified as a reverse takeover under the FCA Listing Rules and therefore the company has requested the temporary suspension of trading in its ordinary shares," Zegona said.
TeliaSonera issued a statement of its own simply confirming the talks.
The announcements come in the wake of media reports a week ago that put Zegona in pole position in the race for Yoigo. Spain’s Expansion claimed Zegona has tabled an offer in excess of €500 million for Yoigo, its bid coming in €60 million-€65 million higher than a rival offer from expansionist telco Masmovil.
Understandably, the companies made no comment about the value of any transaction on Friday.
Zegona is already present in the Spanish telecoms market, having acquired Asturias-based operator Telecable in August for €640 million.
Adding Yoigo into the mix could put Zegona in a strong position to lead any further consolidation in Spain, where small players are struggling to compete with the converged and bundled service portfolios offer by the major network operators Telefonica, Orange and Vodafone.
