Telekom Austria buys key cable operator

Telekom Austria has acquired a 100% stake in the cable operator blizoo Macedonia from Sweden’s EQT for an unknown fee.

Blizoo Macedonia is one of the leading cable operators in the country, with 63,000 subscribers, of whom 47,000 receive broadband services.

Its revenues in 2013 amounted to around €10 million.

Telekom Austria, which will finance the acquisition by existing cash flow, sees the developments as a significant step in its convergence strategy.

Once the transaction, which is subject to merger control clearance, is approved, it will allow Vip operator and blizoo to offer bundled fixed and mobile services in Macedonia and complement the Group’s existing convergent footprint in Austria, Bulgaria and Croatia.

According to Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of Telekom Austria Group and A1, “The takeover of blizoo Macedonia allows us to offer the full scale of communications services in the fourth country within our group and is a step forward in the execution of our successful convergence strategy.”

Nikola Ljushev, CEO of Vip operator, added: “This move opens a broad range of exciting opportunities to Vip operator, the second largest mobile operator in the Republic of Macedonia, by bringing together complementary assets and capabilities for future success. We are very pleased that after years of strong performance in the mobile-only segment, we are stepping forward into fix-mobile convergence, that will ultimately bring even greater benefits to Vip’s and blizoo’s customers.”

Kiril Trendafilov, CEO blizoo Macedonia, continued: “It is great that we are becoming part of Telekom Austria Group as we know this will make us stronger and will ensure sustainable value growth for our shareholders. We are looking forward to sharing experiences and working together with Telekom Austria Group, in particular with Vip operator, in order to provide advanced products and services to our customers.”

EQT still remains in control of blizoo, the leading cable operator in Bulgaria.

The Macedonian deal is expected to close in the third quarter.