NEWS

The sale to ICT firm 4iG and state-backed Corvinus will dramatically alter the dynamics of the Hungarian telecoms market

Today, Vodafone has announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its Hungarian unit, Vodafone Hungary, to local ICT giant 4iG and state holding company Corvinus.

The deal, worth €1.8 billion, will create “a clear #2 operator across mobile and fixed communications”, with the Hungarian government having long sought to create a “national ICT champion” for many years.

“The Hungarian Government has a clear strategy to build a Hungarian owned national champion in the ICT sector,” said Vodafone Group CEO, Nick Read. “This combination with 4iG will allow Vodafone Hungary, which has a proud history of success and innovation in the country, to play a major role in the future growth and development of the sector as a much stronger scaled and fully converged operator. The combined entity will increase competition and have greater access to investment to further the digitalisation of Hungary.”

Vodafone Hungary is Hungary’s second largest mobile player, with around three million mobile subscribers, as well as roughly 800,000 landline users, 700,000 pay-TV customers, and 700,000 fixed broadband subscribers.

For 4iG, on the other hand, the acquisition is the latest step in the company’s ongoing quest to transform from ICT company to telecoms operator.

Back in March last year, 4iG purchased Digi Communications’ Hungarian business for an undisclosed sum, gaining the company’s roughly 1.1 million fixed line subscribers. The move quickly made 4iG a significant player in the Hungarian telecoms market, with both fixed and mobile assets. However, its mobile brand lacked scale – something that the acquisition of Vodafone Hungary will instantly provide.

4iG says that it will have roughly five million customers once Vodafone Hungary is integrated with its existing business, with the company expecting synergies worth around $370 million from combined income, costs, and investment savings.

“The purchase of Vodafone Hungary may be the most significant domestic telecommunications transaction of the past thirty years, on a similar scale to the privatization of Matáv [now Magyar Telekom] after the regime change. With the acquisition, a mainly Hungarian-owned infocommunications company group could be created, which could become the country’s second largest service provider,” explained Jászai Gellért , the president and CEO of 4iG. “After the successful completion of the acquisition, our group of companies can have one of the largest digital infrastructures in Hungary, which, thanks to its prominent role, can become a key player in domestic telecommunications for many decades.”

Assuming regulatory approval, Vodafone says the deal should be concluded by the end of the year.

In related Vodafone news, this week the company has reportedly entered talks with Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) regarding the sale of its final 21% stake in its Indian tower business, Indus Towers.

Numerous alternative suitors have been reported for the business after Vodafone announced its intention to sell its stake earlier this year, including American Tower, Crown Castle International, and Brookfield Asset Management.

The post Vodafone offloads Hungarian unit for €1.8bn first appeared on Total Telecom.

Viewpoint Article

Digital transformation has been accelerating while the new technologies such as 5G, AI, big data, cloud etc. adopted globally

The post Autonomous Networks: CSP’s new explorations for service quality improvement and revenue growth first appeared on Total Telecom.

News

Sources suggest that a sale could raise up to $300 million, with both private equity and other industry players as potential buyers

Singtel first acquired Chicago-Trustwave back in 2015 for $770 million, with the operator hailing the cybersecurity firm as a step towards diversifying its telecoms portfolio amid the sluggish growth of its traditional revenues.

Since then, however, Trustwave’s performance has been mixed, with Singtel in recent years suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the company’s ability to scale up effectively.

In the latter half of 2021, Singtel booked an impairment charge of roughly $240 million for Trustwave, with Singtel’s new CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, suggesting a strategic review of its assets, most notably Trustwave and digital marketing company Amobee and Trustwave in May 2021.

Now, roughly a year later, and Singtel has just concluded the sale of Amobee for $239 million and sources suggest that Trustwave could be next on the chopping block.

Anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg suggest that Singtel has been speaking with financial advisors regarding a sale of Trustwave, with the firm’s price tag reportedly set at around $300 million.

According to reports, Trustwave could draw interest from both within the industry and from investment funds.

Investors have been increasingly interested in the acquisition of cybersecurity firms in recent months, with the global economic situation seeing the majority of these companies slip in value. Just last week, US private equity firm KKR announced it had completed its acquisition of California security firm Barracuda for roughly $4 billion, with the head of KKR’s Technology team noting that cybersecurity remains “a highly attractive sector”.

These sales would not be the only streamlining that Singtel has undertaken of late. The company has also been monetising the assets of its Australian subsidiary, Optus, having sold a majority stake in the operator’s mobile tower unit to Australian pension fund AustralianSuper for $1.3 billion late last year.

In addition, at the start of 2022, rumours suggested that Singtel was also holding talks with potential suitors for a stake sale of Optus’ fibre assets, though no further details on any talks have yet to be announced.

 

As traditional telco revenues continue to dry up, operators are increasingly looking to new revenue streams for growth. Join us at the live Total Telecom Congress later this year to hear the operators in discussion about their rapidly evolving business models

The post Singtel mulling the sale of cybersecurity firm Trustwave first appeared on Total Telecom.

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Today, Brazilian media is reporting that both ATC and IHS Towers are lining up to bid for OI’s 8,000 mobile towers, situated throughout Brazil, according to anonymous sources close to the matter.
Oi has already received a binding offer of roughly $326 million in early August for the towers from NK 108 Empreendimentos e Participacoes (NK 108)…

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