Telekom Austria has completed its rights issue, raising EUR 997 million. The number of outstanding shares will increase by 221.5 million, from 443.0 million to 664.5 million. In addition to the commitments from its main shareholders America Movil and the state holding company OIAG to take up their pro rata shares, other shareholders subscribed to 25.5 million new shares in the operator. The total take-up rate was 99.7 percent of the shares on offer. The approximately 0.3 percent remaining shares will be taken up by Deutsche Bank and sold in the market.
Trading of the new shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange is expected to commence 27 November. America Movil and OIAG have committed to a lock-up period of six months when they will not sell shares.
Telekom Austria intends to use the net proceeds of the capital increase to re-establish its target capital structure and maintain a credit rating of at least BBB (stable) by Standard & Poor's. In particular, the capital increase will allow Telekom Austria to implement an accelerated roll-out of its fibre infrastructure in the coming years and finance additional acquisitions in its growth areas.
