T-Mobile Austria acquires UPC Austria, strengthens market position
T-Mobile Austria announced the acquisition of the country's leading cable operator UPC Austria. The deal creates an integrated communications provider offering mobile and fixed-line services.
T-Mobile Austria announced its acquisition of UPC Austria, the country's leading cable operator and previously an indirect subsidiary of Liberty Global. The combination creates an integrated provider in Austria offering broadband, mobile and fixed-line communications, and TV and entertainment products.
The company will merge T-Mobile Austria's nationwide 4G network with UPC Austria's cable infrastructure. The aim is to establish a strong converged challenger to incumbent A1 Telekom Austria by offering quad-play services. The enterprise value for UPC Austria was set at EUR 1.9 billion.
Significant synergies are anticipated, with an estimated net present value of EUR 0.8 billion after integration costs. Deutsche Telekom expects the transaction to be accretive to the group's free cash flow and earnings per share from year one.
The deal, which is subject to approval from competition authorities, is expected to close in the second half of 2018. The merged entity aims for a strengthened position in both consumer and business segments.