Dutch telecoms group KPN has invited its shareholders to vote on the proposed sale of German mobile unit E-Plus at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 2 October 2013. Last month KPN announced that it had agreed to sell E-Plus to Telefonica Deutschland for EUR5 billion (USD6.6 billion) in cash and a 17.6% stake in the combined entity post transaction. The merger of Germany’s third and fourth largest mobile network operators by subscribers will create a stronger competitor to larger players Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone Germany. Under the terms of the transaction, KPN will transfer 100% of its interest in E-Plus to Telefonica Deutschland for a consideration of EUR3.7 billion in cash and newly issued shares in Telefonica Deutschland, representing 24.9% of the share capital. Simultaneously, Spanish parent Telefonica will acquire a 7.3% interest in Telefonica Deutschland from KPN for a cash consideration of EUR1.3 billion, lifting its total stake to 65.0%, while the remaining 17.4% will be in free float. Telefonica said the deal will result in an operator with 43 million customers and combined revenues of EUR8.3 billion (end of 2012).
Meanwhile, Reuters cites an interview with the head of Germany’s antitrust watchdog in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) as saying that the planned combination of E-Plus and Telefonica will require close scrutiny. ‘It is evident that such a combination would have a considerable impact on competition and will have to be investigated closely in all its facets,’ the Federal Cartel Office’s president Andreas Mundt is quoted as saying.