Portuguese telecoms group Sonaecom has announced that it has ceased to be an investor in ZOPT (its 50/50 joint venture with Isabel dos Santos-controlled Unitel International Holdings and Kento Holdings), which owns 52.15% of Portuguese operator Nos. Sonaecom effectively exchanged its 50% stake in ZOPT for a 26.075% direct stake in Nos. Sonaecom indicated in a filing with the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissao do Mercado de Valores Mobiliarios, CMVM) that it would receive money from dividends attributed to ZOPT that had not been distributed due to the seizure of dos Santos’ assets.
In April 2021 Lisbon’s central criminal court froze dos Santos’ assets, including the half share she holds in ZOPT, due to accusations of corruption on a massive scale. The court subsequently lifted the injunction preventing her from exercising voting rights in Nos after Sonaecom challenged the freezing of assets on the grounds that it violated rules related to limited liability companies.