PARIS (dpa-AFX) - France Telecom (FTE) said that it agreed to sell its Swiss mobile subsidiary, Orange Communication S.A, to a Private Equity Investment Group Fund Apax Partners for an enterprise value of CHF 2.0 billion or EUR 1.6 billion.
The company said that the transaction will be submitted to its board for approval during the week commencing on January 9, 2012. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Swiss competent authorities.
Orange Communication or Orange Switzerland was established in 1999 and became one of the leading mobile operators in Switzerland. The company posted revenue of CHF 1.3 billion or EUR 1.1 billion in 2010 and had a customer base of 1.6 million at the end of September 2011. The company employs about 1,200 people.
FTE closed Friday's regular trading at $15.64, up $0.07. However, In after-hours trading, the stock was down $0.04.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX