The Spanish Government is considering imposing certain conditions on stc Group’s acquisition of a 9.9% stake in Telefónica.
Quoting Bloomberg, Cinco Dias reports that they would be along the same lines as the Australian fund IFM Global Infrastructure had to meet in 2021 when acquiring a 23% stake in Naturgy.
These would include support for certain corporate policies, such as investment in important projects for the country; the maintenance of headquarters in Spain; a prudent dividend payment policy; and an investment grade leverage ratio.
The Saudi company would be required to abstain from supporting potential sales of critical assets or backing any bid to delist Telefónica.
Significantly, the Government says it has not yet received any notification from stc, which is free to acquire a 5% stake in Telefónica but will require the approval of the Ministry of Defence to raise it up to 10%.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, stc Group acquired a 9.9% stake in Telefónica for €2.1 billion earlier this month.
