Digi wants to buy Telekom Romania’s mobile network and licenses without the clients

Romanian telecom group Digi Communications, controlled by local investor Zoltan Teszari, would be interested in buying Telekom Romania’s mobile network and licenses, but without the mobile client base, according to sources from the telecom sector quoted by local Ziarul Financiar.

German group Deutsche Telekom thus has a difficult and lengthy exit process to manage in Romania, as no investor has shown interest in buying the whole business.

French group Orange and Romanian group Digi are, reportedly, the main entities interested in Deutsche Telekom’s assets in Romania, but they only want parts of the business.

Digi, the biggest cable TV and fixed broadband internet provider in Romania, is only interested in Telekom Romania’s mobile network and licenses. However, it doesn’t want the client portfolio, not even the subscribers, because it wants to lower the cost of the acquisition and to avoid getting the European Commission’s clearance for the deal, which would be a more complicated process. Meanwhile, Orange only wants Telekom’s fixed telecom operations (cable TV and fixed internet), which would complement its leading mobile operations in Romania.

The Romanian media reported at the beginning of September that Deutsche Telekom and Orange were close to signing a deal for the fixed telecom operations of Telekom Romania. Meanwhile, a Bulgarian investor with Russian ties was also reportedly interested in Telekom’s mobile business.

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