OSLO, Norway-British Telecom and Telenor agreed to extend Telenor’s put option on Irish mobile operator Esat Digifone from Dec. 7 to Feb. 7, 2001.
Under an agreement between BT and Telenor reached earlier this year, Telenor has the right to exchange its 49.5-percent shareholding in Esat Digifone for a 33-percent stake in the Esat Telecom Group. The announcement extends the deadline for the option.
An additional option available to Telenor to then sell its Esat Telecom stake to BT for $1.24 billion is reduced by two months commencing on the date of the completion of the exchange of the Digifone shares.
BT owns the remaining 50.5 percent in Esat Digifone, Ireland’s second-largest wireless carrier.
