PARIS-France Telecom announced an agreement with all the minority shareholders in Orange Slovakia to acquire their shares for a total $628 million, giving France Telecom full control of the mobile carrier. Following the transaction, to be paid before the end of the year, France Telecom will increase its indirect stake in Orange Slovakia from 63.88 percent to 100 percent.
The French company, which was saddled with a high debt load several years ago, said the transaction will not impact its net debt. France Telecom owns Orange S.A., which has wireless subsidiaries across Europe.
The company said Orange Slovakia is the leading wireless carrier in Slovakia with more than 2.3 million customers, 57-percent market share, and revenue growth of 20 percent between 2003 and 2004.
Sellers include a consortium of financial investors led by AIG New Europe Fund.
Earlier this week, T0Mobile announced plans to offer both Flash-OFDM and UMTS TDD high-speed wireless technologies.<
