LISBON, Portugal-Portugal Telecom announced its Brazilian cellular subsidiary, Telesp Celular Participacoes S.A., acquired 49 percent of the common shares and 100 percent of the preferred shares of mobile operator Global Telecom S.A. TCP purchased the stake from holding companies belonging to DDI Corp., ITX Corp. and Inepar S.A.
The price was based on Global Telecom’s enterprise value of $1.2 billion, Portugal Telecom said.
Global Telecom is a Band B cellular operator in the states of Parana and Santa Catarina, which is contiguous to Sao Paulo state, where TCP operates. Portugal Telecom said the markets are among the wealthiest states in Brazil and have a 13-percent wireless penetration.
The operator has 463,000 total subscribers and a 25-percent market share, said Portugal Telecom.
Portugal Telecom said it plans to spend $256.5 million over two years to extend coverage, increase capacity and improve data transmission of the CDMA network.
Analysts said the acquisition is a sign of further consolidation to come in Brazil’s mobile sector. Anatel, the country’s telecom regulator, is set to auction nine additional 1800 MHz licenses in three regions beginning later this month.
