Telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless (C&W) has agreed to sell loss-making British mobile-phone group One2One, which it jointly owns with United States-based MediaOne, to Deutsche Telekom for GBP8.4 billion (about HK$105.57 billion).
The deal, Deutsche Telekom's first substantial acquisition following its failure to merge with Telecom Italia earlier this year, comes as Deutsche management board chairman Ron Sommer persists with his goal of turning the company into a global telecoms player.
'This acquisition is of vital importance to Deutsche Telekom,' Mr Sommer said. 'It meets two of the core requirements in our growth strategy.
'On the one hand we are continuing to expand our highly successful mobile-communications business in Europe, and on the other we are establishing a strong presence and a solid basis for growth in the United Kingdom, one of Europe's most important markets.' Deutsche is one of the leading players in Germany's mobile-phone industry through its ownership of T-Mobil, and significant synergies between One2One and T-Mobil could be generated as a consequence of the deal.
Deutsche will pay GBP6.9 billion in cash, and repay a further GBP237 million of shareholder loans, as well as assuming GBP1.5 billion of One2One's third-party debt.
One2One reported a GBP52 million operating loss in the year to March 31.
Deutsche said acquisition of One2One, which had 2.65 million customers by the end of June, would give it a portfolio of mobile-phone businesses with about 12 million subscribers throughout the continent.