Dusseldorf-based defence and vehicle manufacturing group Rheinmetall has agreed to buy a 25.12% stake in Hungarian IT and telecoms group 4iG, making it the latter’s largest international investor, subject to approval by Hungary’s Ministry of the Interior under foreign acquisition laws. The deal includes the purchase of shares from Hungarian businessman Gellert Jaszai’s investment company KZF Vagyonkezelo alongside a private share placement. 4iG announced that if the transaction is completed, the indirect ownership of Mr Jaszai in the group will decrease from 56.85% to 50.22%, while 4iG ‘will become a key digitisation and IT partner’ for Rheinmetall, which operates globally.
Among its subsidiaries, 4iG owns Hungarian telecoms companies DIGI, Invitel, Invitech and Hungaro DigiTel, as well as Telenor Montenegro, while it has agreed several other acquisitions pending completion, including ONE Telecommunications (formerly Albania Telekom), ALBtelecom (Albania), Antenna Hungaria and SpaceCom (Israel). Regarding the proposed takeover of international satellite provider SpaceCom (announced in June 2021), the Jerusalem Post reports that Israel’s Ministry of Communications has thus far declined to authorise the sale over security concerns regarding links between 4iG and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.