Hutchison Whampoa, owner of 3 Ireland, is in advanced talks to acquire Telefonica’s Irish unit O2, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations. According to the same sources, an agreement could be reached even before rival bidders are expected to place their bids on 5 July. Telefonica is keen on closing a deal before it publishes interim results at the end of next month, the sources added.
Telefonica may raise over EUR 700 million from the sale of its O2 Ireland unit, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The Spanish company wants to cut its net debt to less than EUR 47 billion by end-2013, from about EUR 51.2 billion.
Telefonica is being advised by Bank of America and Barclays, one person familiar with the matter said.
Other interested bidders, including Eircom and Liberty Global via its UPC Ireland unit, have also received information on the sale, a person familiar with the matter said on 10 June. Telefonica continues talks with the other suitors, and has offered the access to additional data in the past few days, following recent O2 management presentations in Dublin, the sources said.
