The Hungarian government could purchase a 25% stake in mobile operator Telenor Hungary by the end of the year via national TV broadcast transmission and telecoms infrastructure company Antenna Hungaria, according to a report from Nepszava citing two ‘independent sources’. Telenor Hungary is currently owned by Czech-backed, Netherlands-headquartered private investment fund PPF which completed a regional takeover of Telenor Group’s assets in July 2018. Antenna Hungaria has been state-owned since the government bought the firm from France’s TDF in mid-2014.
Nepszava’s sources claim that negotiations between the government and Telenor Hungary’s management are already underway. Forbes estimated the company’s worth at HUF350 billion (USD1.2 billion) last year.