France Telecom sells Swiss unit to Apax Partners (Europe)
Mobile operator France Telecom will be selling its Swiss unit, Orange Switzerland, to private equity investment group, Apax Partners for an enterprise value of approximately USD 2.1 billion. According to company reports, the transaction will be sent to the Board of Directors of France Telecom for approval during the week commencing on January 9, 2012.
As reported earlier, the operator had decided to sell of its Swiss mobile subsidiary in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry and focus its attention on the emerging markets. The company reportedly claims that upon completion, this transaction will constitute a significant step in the optimization of France Telecom’s assets portfolio announced in May 2011.
France Telecom to receive second round bids for Orange Switzerland (Europe)
France Telecom, a leading telecommunications service provider, is expected to receive the second round bids for its Swiss unit, Orange Switzerland, from five potential buyers. According to reports, some of the shortlisted investors include Providence Equity Partners, Apax Partners and EQT Partners. Sources claim that Naguib Sawiris, founder of Orascom Telecom may also bid for Orange Switzerland along with cable company Liberty Global Inc.
As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, the sale of Orange Switzerland was a strategic decision taken by France Telecom in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry and focus its attention on the emerging markets.As per sources, France Telecom hopes to receive between US$ 1.95 billion and US$ 2.60 from the sale.
The sale being advised by Perella Weinber Partners along with Lazard Ltd. is expected to be finalized in the beginning of 2012, wherein France Telecom will reportedly announce the company chosen to acquire its unit.
Telefonica signs network sharing agreement with China Unicom (Spain, China)
Spanish telecom operator Telefonica has reportedly entered into a strategic partnership with China Unicom, wherein both operators will use each other’s networks to expand their coverage. According to reports, the deal will provide Telefonica access to China Unicom’s network in the regions of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, France and Sweden.
In return, China Unicom can reportedly increase its presence through Telefonica’s network in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
Reports suggest that Telefonica believes this agreement will help both operators expand their capabilities to provide telecom services to various customers in different geographic areas.
America Movil’s increases its stake in Telemex to 93 percent (Latin America)
America Movile, the leading wireless service provider in Latin America, has reportedly said its stake in Telmex has gone up from 60 percent to as much as 93 percent, as a consequence of a shareholder buyout offer. According to reports, the operator will be required to pay around US$ 4.6 billion, to increase its holding, for which the company reportedly sold bonds worth over US$ 5 billion in the UK, Japan, Switzerland and the US since August this year.
As per industry reports, in August, Carlos Slim, Chairman, America Movil had said that they were looking to restructure their telecoms empire by buying out a 40.4 percent stake in Telmex for US$ 0.77 per share in an attempt to reduce administrative costs along with improving its competitiveness in the market.
Orange Switzerland second round bids expected before year end (Europe)
According to reports, the second round of bids for France telecom’s unit in Switzerland will take place on 12th December. Sources suggest that the bidders shortlisted to submit the second-round bids include Apax Partners, Providence Equity Partners and John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc.
As per sources, Naguib Sawiris, Chairman, Orascom Telecom along with buyout firms such as EQT, Carlyle Group and Bain Capital have also shown an interest in acquiring the swiss unit, but their current involvement in the process is still unclear.
Reports suggest that France Telecom expects to receive between US$ 2.03 billion and $ 2.71 billion for Orange Switzerland. As per sources, Stephane Richard, CEO, Orange Switzerland does not believe that the euro-zone debt crisis would affect the price it could get for the business unit.
As reported earlier, the sale of Orange Switzerland was a strategic decision taken by France Telecom in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in a struggling industry. Sources claim that the company aims to complete the deal by this year end.
Orascom Telecom seeks partners for Orange Switzerland bid (Europe, Egypt)
According to reports, Naguib Sawiris, founder of Orascom Telecom is looking for partners in order to bid for Orange Switzerland valued at around $2.8 billion. Other people who have shown their interest in acquiring the France Telecom SA mobile-phone unit, include Xavier Niel, founder of Iliad, and private equity firms Apax Partners LLP and EQT Partners. As per sources, when questioned about Mobinil, Sawiris said that he has no plans to sell his stake in Mobinil which belongs to Orascom and other shareholders.
As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, France Telecom is hopeful of finalizing a deal for its Switzerland unit by the end of this year and plans to target the emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa. Further, the group may also be looking to sell its units in Austria and Portugal.
France Telecom shortlists bidders for sale of Orange Switzerland
France Telecom, a leading telecommunications operator, has reportedly shortlisted four to five private equity firm from the initial 10 bidders for the second round, in the sale of its Swiss business, Orange Switzerland. As per reports, Lazard Ltd. and Perella Weinberg Partners are responsible for the sale of the business which is expected to get France Telecom between US$ 2.08 billion and $ 2.8 billion.
According to sources, the sale of Orange Switzerland was a strategic decision taken by France Telecom in an attempt to achieve sustained growth in what is considered to be a struggling industry. The group is hopeful to seal a deal by the end of 2011.
BBC unveils iPad app in Europe for its TV shows
BBC, the UK based broadcaster has announced the unveiling of an app for Apple’s iPad. The app makes it possible for reviewing the BBC television shows by way of the iPad’s inbuilt iPlayer app.
It is going to be an on-demand subscription service. Western Europe will witness the app’s launch in 11 markets, ahead of subsequent launches elsewhere. Services will be offered at $10.04 per month or $71.86 annually in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, in the app’s initial launch.
Subscribers will be able to both stream and download shows for offline viewing – the major highlight of the BBC app.
France Telecom profits decline; sale of its Swiss network possible
France Telecom posts 1.9% rise in its first-half revenues to $32.6 billion. However, the company’s net profit declined to $2.8 billion from $5.31 billion the preceding year. The decline in profits is largely attributed to setting up of the UK based Everything Everywhere joint venture last April. Discounting the UK based business, the company would have still seen profit decline by somewhat above $862.56 million.
Reasserted EBITDA stood at $11 billion with margin erosion capped at -1.5 percentage points. In addition, -0.6 percentage points of the margin erosion was attributed to the crises in Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire, and the adverse impact of the VAT increase in France which was only partly passed on to the consumers.
The company saw an increase of 7%, in the number of customers. The total number of Group customers stood at 217.3 million as on 30 June, 2011; pushed by a 23% rise in mobile services across Africa and the Middle East.
In anticipation of the review of its European asset portfolio, the company stated that it has started the process for a potential sale of its consumer business in Switzerland. Last year, the company had looked to merge Orange Switzerland with Sunrise, its rival network. However, the proceedings were stalled by the Swiss Competition Commission.
In addition, a review of operations in Africa and the Middle East as well as those for the Enterprise sector is also awaited by the company, expected to be over before the end of this year.
Vodafone looks to improve customer experience while roaming with latest roaming offers (Malta)
Vodafone announces new call and internet usage rates while roaming. The new offerings lets consumers pay at local rates outside of the local zone.
At the cost of $1.39, customers will now be able to take advantage of a 10 minute call while roaming as well as use 30 MB of data per day for $4.17. Vodafone is looking to bring to customers an enhanced experience at competitive rates.
Vodafone’s latest offerings are applicable in Vodafone networks across Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and United Kingdom, in addition to roaming in Austria on Mobilkom, Belgium on Belgacom, France on SFR and Switzerland on Swisscom.
According to Daniel Grech, Business Marketing Manager at Vodafone Malta, Vodafone’s initiatives with regard to roaming are part of the bigger effort to provide customers the most competitive roaming rates as well as roaming service.
