Orange SA has announced plans to buy a controlling stake in a major Romanian telecommunications company.
The multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in France with fixed, mobile, internet and IPTV operations in a large number of countries, has apparently agreed to buy a 54 percent stake in Telekom Romania Communications from the Deutsche Telekom-owned Greek operator OTE. Orange plans to pay 268 million euros (about $318.2 million) for the controlling stake in the company, which is Romania’s second-largest player.
This deal will, according to Reuters, give the Romanian unit an enterprise value of 497 million euros (about $590 million).
Telekom Romania Communications reported 2019 revenues of 622 million euros (about $739 million). It provides fixed-line voice, broadband and pay-tv services to 5 million customers.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021, according to OTE.
However, despite its strong position in the mobile market, this deal does not apparently, give Orange control of Telekom Romania’s mobile business. OTE says it will retain its ownership of this. That said, OTE has been looking to divest its stake in Telekom Romania to focus investment on next-generation 5G networks in Greece.
In any case, the Orange name is already well known in Romania through Orange Romania, which is a broadband internet service provider and mobile provider, majority owned by Orange SA. It is one of five mobile networks in the country.
