NEWBURY (dpa-AFX) - Telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD.L, VOD) said that that Vodafone Greece has agreed to acquire 72.7% of the share capital of Hellas Online SA or 'HOL' from the Intracom Group and World Equities Investments Holdings SA or 'WEI' for a total cash consideration of 72.7 million euro.
The Transaction values the fully diluted equity of HOL at 100 million euro and is equivalent to an enterprise value of 311 million euro including HOL's adjusted net debt of 211 million euro.
HOL is a provider of broadband and fixed-line telephony in Greece with around 519,000 customers as at 31 December 2013, representing a market share of approximately 11%.
Vodafone stated that it expects to achieve cost and capex synergies with an annual run-rate of 24 million euros before integration costs by the third full year post completion, equivalent to a net present value of approximately 135 million euros after integration costs. These synergies are expected to be realised from sharing network and IT infrastructure, savings on marketing and bill collections, and rationalisation of overlapping functions.
For the twelve months ended 31 December 2013, HOL reported total revenue of 227.4 million euros, EBITDA of 68.4 million euros and capex of 36.7 million euros. As at 31 December 2013, HOL reported gross assets of 281.1 million euros.
Vodafone Greece currently owns an 18.4% stake in Hellas Online. The Transaction is expected to complete in calendar fourth-quarter of 2014, following which Vodafone Greece would own 91.2% of HOL and be under an obligation to extend a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in HOL.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX