Telefonica Deutschland completes cash capital increase

Telefonica Deutschland has raised approximately EUR3.6 billion (USD4.6 billion) through a capital increase to help fund its acquisition of Dutch telecoms operator KPN’s German mobile unit E-Plus. Telefonica issued 1.116 billion new shares at a subscription price of EUR3.24 per share, offered to current shareholders at a ratio of 1:1. The take-up quota for the offered new shares was 99.92%, equalling 1,116,068,883 rights, with the majority shareholder Telefonica exercising all of its respective rights. Late last month Telefonica Deutschland received final European Commission (EC) clearance for its EUR8.55 billion acquisition of E-Plus, raising the potential for further consolidation in other European telecoms markets. The combination of Telefonica and E-Plus will reduce the number of German network operators from four to three, with the enlarged Telefonica becoming the market leader ahead of Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone Germany.