Telecom Italia has agreed to sell its entire stake in Telecom Argentina to Fintech Group for USD 960 million. The operator confirmed in a statement that Fintech would buy the Telecom Argentina shares held by its units Telecom Italia International, Sofora Telecomunicaciones, Nortel Inversora and Tierra Argentea. The company added that USD 100.5 million of the total corresponds to additional agreements related to the transaction, including an agreement to continue providing the Telecom Argentina companies technical support and other services for up to three years.
Fintech’s Mexican owner David Martinez last week informed Argentina's media regulator that his US-based fund was in talks with Telecom Italia about the stake. Now that a deal has been struck, Fintech may have to sell its 40 percent stake in Cablevision, Argentina’s biggest cable television company, as local regulations limit cross holdings between telecoms and media firms.
Telecom Italia’s sale of its controlling stake in Telecom Argentina is part of a strategy aimed at raising EUR 4 billion to avoid a credit downgrade and revive its business. The company sold a EUR 1.3 billion convertible bond on 08 November and is now looking to find buyers for other assets including towers in Italy and Brazil.
