Zon Multimedia, Optimus merger deal
January 22, 2013
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The Boards of Directors of fixed telephony and pay-TV operator Zon Multimedia and mobile telephony company Optimus have unanimously approved the merger of Optimus into Zon.
The merger is based on an exchange ratio that grants Zon a value corresponding to 1.5 times the value of Optimus. Zon will increase its share capital and issue to the shareholders of Optimus new shares representing 40 per cent of the share capital of Zon. The merger will create synergies of €350-400 million.
Zon will adopt Zon Optimus as its corporate name and the transaction is subject to approval by the competent bodies of the companies, as well as to the non-opposition of the Competition Authority.
The merger will create a telecommunications group with combined revenues in excess of €1.6 billion and an EBITDA of approximately €540 million. The current market share estimated to result from the merger corresponds to 26 per cent of the Portuguese telecommunications market.