Telekom Slovenije Acquires Debitel
The telco, which is also the leading mobile operator with a 48.4% market share, signed the acquisition contract with the indebted ACH holding, ACH's affiliate Adria Mobil and the Svema Trade company today.
The deal will be closed after the competition protection agency clears it, so no details could yet be disclosed, according to Telekom Slovenije.
Set up in November 1998, Debitel today has some 90,000 users as one of several mobile service providers. Its operations have been stable since the beginning and it held a 3.9% market share on the mobile telephony market in the third quarter of 2014.
Debitel's revenue stood at EUR 17.1m in 2012 and EUR 15.2m in 2013, while its net profit was EUR 930,000 and EUR 720,000 respectively.
"The purchase of the 100% share in Debitel will strengthen the synergies between Telekom Slovenije and Debitel and enable the users of Debitel mobile services the highest quality of service on the Slovenian market in the future as well," Telekom said.
The ACH holding, which had held a 70% stake in Debitel, opted for the sale as part of financial restructuring. In line with the deal with its creditors, ACH must also sell the Union and Lev hotels in Ljubljana.
Telekom's acquisition of Debitel, which has already been relying on Telekom's mobile network, is seen as a next step in a long expected consolidation of the Slovenian telecommunications market.
In October 2014, the country's biggest cable operator Telemach took over the third biggest mobile operator Tušmobil.
Telecommunications services provider T-2 is also being mentioned as a possible takeover target. The leading fibre optic broadband provider is reportedly being eyed by Simobil, the no. 2 wireless provider in the country, which is owned by Telekom Austria.