Lithuania’s Teo to acquire mobile sister company Omnitel

Nordic telco TeliaSonera is combining its two Lithuanian services, fixed-line operator Teo and mobile player Omnitel, in a single company that TeliaSonera says will strengthen its core business in the Nordic and Baltic markets.

Teo will acquire Omnitel for €220 million on a cash and debt-free basis, with the united company expected to generate annual synergies of around €10 million when the deal is completed.

Based on Omnitel’s full-year 2014 results, the purchase price corresponds to an EV/EBITDA multiple of 7.8x or approximately 5.7x taking the estimated synergies into consideration. A fairness opinion has been delivered by KPMG to the Board of Directors of Teo in connection with the transaction, according to TeliaSonera.

Teo will use external financing for the acquisition and TeliaSonera’s ownership in Teo will remain at 88.15% following the transaction. The acquisition is expected to be completed by first quarter of 2016.

“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,” said Robert Andersson, chair of the board of Teo.

Separately, Teo this week added sports, news, fashion, interior design and entertainment service Delfi TV to its Interneto.tv OTT offering.

Teo said it would also add a further four music and movie channels for kids from mid-October.

Teo is also introducing catch-up TV for the past three days from 25 channels on the service, as well as 16 radiostations. Teo Smart TV customers will be able to use Interneto.tv free until the end of this year, after which they will be charged €4.90 a month for the service.

“Delfi TV has become a video content broadcaster just as important as other Lithuanian TV stations. However, we are entering the professional TV market with new technologies, multi-platform solutions, which will allow viewers to watch sports broadcasts, quality shows and reportages at the time and place convenient for them via many devices,” said Vytautas Benokraitis, director of Delfi Media Group.