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Zegona believed to have tabled higher offer than Masmovil, leaving the way clear for it to hold talks with TeliaSonera.
Two companies lodged bids for Spanish mobile operator Yoigo late last week, with a U.K.-based entity looking likely to come out on top, according to local press reports.
TeliaSonera invited Spanish operator Masmovil and U.K. investment fund Zegona to make offers for its Spanish mobile unit, Expansion reported, citing sources close to the situation.
Yoigo would not be Zegona’s first Spanish telco buy. It acquired Asturias-based operator Telecable in August for €640 million.
With an offer in excess of €500 million, Zegona is leading the race for Yoigo, Expansion said, its bid being €60 million-€65 million higher than Masmovil’s.
The latter is unlikely to table a higher offer, it added, leaving the way clear for TeliaSonera to enter into exclusive negotiations with Zegona.
There has been no official comment from any of the parties involved.
Masmovil has made it clear in recent months that it is keen to boost its position in the Spanish telecoms market, declaring itself the country’s fourth national operator last summer after acquiring fibre assets and copper network access from Orange in the wake of its Jazztel acquisition.
The acquisition of Yoigo, Spain’s smallest mobile network operator, would of course boost its ambitions.
Meanwhile, there has been talk of Basque cable operator Euskaltel bulking up and spearheading consolidation amongst Spain’s smaller players. It acquired Galician cableco R Cable late last year.
However, Expansion speculated that, should Zegona succeed in taking over Yoigo, it could find itself as the driving force behind further M&A. The firm would control a group with turnover of more than €1 billion, putting it ahead of Euskaltel, with €700 million, and thereby possibly securing it a leading role.
The paper noted that any credible fourth operator in Spain would likely have to bring together Masmovil, Yoigo, Euskaltel and Telecable.
