Greece's Cosmote Group confirmed earlier rumours and has signed a deal to buy Romania's Telemobil (Zapp) for a total consideration of around EUR205 million. The consideration for the shares of Zapp is estimated at approximately EUR61 million (equity value), while Cosmote will also assume the debt and other liabilities of Zapp, mainly concerning 3G and CDMA network roll out, estimated at approximately EUR 146 million.
Cosmote already operates a network in Romania, but lacks a 3G license, something that Zapp has.
Cosmote CEO, Mr. Michael Tsamaz, commented: "The deal signed today marks a new cycle of growth and expanded customer base for Cosmote Romania since the 3G and CDMA licenses and infrastructure allow the company to offer cutting-edge data and voice services in Romania. In one of the most competitive markets in Europe, and in only 3.5 years of operations, Cosmote Romania's impressive track-record proves that the company is in a position to fully capture the benefits from our new investment".
Zapp, originally a Qualcomm backed CDMA450 operator last year secured a 3G license and added a WCDMA overlay to its network. The company also planed to upgrade the speed on its existing CDMA EV-DO network to 3.1Mbps, and to 7.2 Mbps once the UMTS commercial offer will be available. Qualcomm sold its stake in the operator last January.
The Mobile World database estimates that Zapp ended last year with an estimated 516,000 subscribers - which represents a market share of under two percent. Cosmote ended the year with just over 6.1 million customers - and a market share of around 21.5%. Due to their respective market shares, it is unlikely that the acquisition would cause any anti-trust issues.
On the web: Mobile World - Cosmote
Posted to the site on 30th June 2009
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/38289.php