VIENNA, Austria-Telekom Austria said it paid $105.6 million to purchase MobilTel AD, a Bulgarian wireless carrier, as part of a call option agreement concluded in December 2004.
The deal is according to the timetable announced in the option agreement and follows delivery of the audited financial statement for MobilTel for the 2004 financial year. “The payment of the call option price is another important step towards the acquisition of MobilTel,” said Heinz Sundt, chief executive officer of Telekom Austria.
The call option gives Telekom Austria Group the right to purchase 100 percent of MobilTel for a total value of about $2.1 billion in 2005. “The payment of the call option price confirms Telekom Austria Group’s positive view of MobilTel, the leading mobile operator in Bulgaria, and supports our strategy of expansion in southeastern Europe,” said Boris Nemsic, CEO of Mobilkom Austria, the wireless arm of Telekom Austria.
In December, Telekom Austria said it would fund the buy mainly from its cash flow and in part through issuance of debt. The Bulgarian carrier is owned by a consortium of Austrian and international financial investors.
