Digi to acquire Orange-MásMóvil surplus assets
November 30, 2023
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Digi has reached a preliminary agreement with Orange-MásMóvil to acquire the so-called remedies, the surplus assets from the merger. This move may pave the way for the EU approval of the merger, still under the EC scrutiny and valued at over €18 billion.
If acquired, Digi says it will invest around €2 billion over the next seven years (in the networks) generating 1,500 jobs.
“We have the commitment of making important investments if we win the ‘merger remedies’” said Marius Varzaru CEO of Digi.
The merger is expected to have a final EU decision this month or by the beginning of 2024.
Meanwhile, MásMóvil has reported it lost €170 million to September 30th versus a €509 million profit in the same period last year above all due to the cost of debt costs, up 27.8 per cent.
The company increased its revenues by 3 per cent though to €2.23 billion. EBITDA amounted to €903 million, up 7.2 per cent. Its net debt grew to €6.5 billion, €222 million more than at the end of 2022. The number of customers grew by 4 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 15.8 million: 3.4 million broadband customers, up 5 per cent and 12.3 million mobile customers, up 4.2 per cent.