DT completes acquisition of GTS Central Europe

German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom (DT) officially closed its acquisition of GTS Central Europe from a number of private equity groups on 30 May, in a move that will strengthen its position in the international business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale segments. The deal was first announced in November 2013 and received European Commission approval in April. The full operational integration is expected to be completed in the Czech Republic, Poland and the International Business Unit of DT in October, while legal unity is planned for 1 January 2015. ‘With the acquisition complete, we look forward to integrating GTS’ B2B expertise with our industry-leading technologies and vast European network to become the provider of choice for business customers,’ said Claudia Nemat, Board Member of Europe and Technology at DT, adding: ‘The GTS acquisition supports the implementation of our strategy to strengthen and further develop our B2B local and pan-European business including international wholesale customers. Most importantly, we want to preserve GTS’ know-how and combine its business approach with the core strengths of DT.’ GTS owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic and data centre network throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the company combines its regional footprint with local networks to deliver a broad range of services, including basic voice and data, virtual private networks and cloud services. Its subscriber base comprises over 35,000 business, carrier and government customers.