Shareholders of Drillisch have voted in favour of increasing the company’s share capital in order to combine its mobile communications business with United Internet’s mobile and fixed network unit, which is held by 1&1 Telecommunication. In May 2017 United Internet and Drillisch announced a business combination agreement which stipulated the step-by-step integration of 1&1 Telecommunication into Drillisch via two capital increases. The transaction is aimed at creating a strong fourth player in the German telecoms market, alongside the three major full-service providers Telekom Deutschland, Vodafone Germany and Telefonica Deutschland.
The capital increase, which was approved by 97.9% of Drillisch shareholders, will take effect after registration in the Commercial Register, expected by the end of the year. Once this has been completed, Drillisch will hold 100% of shares in 1&1 Telecommunication, in return for which United Internet’s interest in Drillisch will increase from 30.9% to 73.1%.
‘We’re delighted [with] the clear approval which the Drillisch shareholders have given to the capital increase. Under the umbrella of United Internet a new full-service telecommunications provider that has a strong brand, an enormous customer base and immense distribution capability can be established now,’ stated Ralph Dommermuth, Chairman of the Management Board of United Internet, adding: ‘Together, we can offer our customers the complete range of products with full access to the network technologies of today and tomorrow from a single source: high speed DSL, mobile internet and the associated services. The shareholders of United Internet and Drillisch will benefit from the significant growth potential and synergies offered by the merger in the form of value increases and dividends.’