The Lithuanian incumbent Teo is to acquire the mobile operator Omnitel from its current shareholder TeliaSonera for €220 million on a cash and debt-free basis.
Teo is itself 88.15% owned by TeliaSonera – this will remain unchanged – and the transaction, undertaken through external financing, will allow Teo and Omnitel to provide converged offerings including fixed, mobile, internet, TV and IT services.
The new business will be run by a single management team led by Kestutis Sliusas, the current CEO of Teo. At the same time, Sliuzas and Dan Strömberg, CEO of Omnitel, will continue in their current roles until the end of 2015.
Commenting on the development, Robert Andersson, chairman of the board at Teo, said: “Consumers no longer make a distinction between fixed and mobile services and the demand for converged offerings are steadily increasing. The combination of Teo and Omnitel will create a leading, fully converged telecom operator and strengthen the market position through clear synergies and enhanced customer proposition”.
