Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom and Zagrebacka Banka signed an agreement with Telemach Hrvatska, owned by United Group, on the sale of 54.31 percent of Optima Telekom, of which 36.90 percent owned by the bank and 17.41 percent owned by HT Holding. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other agreed contractual conditions and is expected by the end of 2021.
The sale and share purchase agreement sets an enterprise value of Optima Telekom at HRK 639 million, which represents 5 times 2020 EBITDA before one-time items and after leases.
HT has managed Optima Telekom since 2014 as part of a deal with the bank to save the operator from bankruptcy. The management contract was extended in 2017 and a process to sell Optima was started in 2020. HT's control over the company ended on 10 July 2021.
The takeover will allow Telemach to expand into the fixed market, after earlier acquiring Tele2's local mobile business, and offer converged packages. It recently started rolling out its own fibre network, and Optima will bring around 125,000 broadband customers 55,000 TV subscribers.
In addition to competition clearance, the deal requires pending changes to Croatia's Electronic Media Act to be approved by parliament. This would allow vertical integration of broadcasters like United Group with telecom operators in the country.
Telemach said it was confident the legislation would pass, allowing the takeover to go ahead. Once the takeover is completed, it plans to launch a buy-out offer for Optima's shares listed on the stack market.
