Of Costa Ketsietzis
The announcement of an ambitious investment plan that will exceed 1.3 billion euros in five years was accompanied by the completion of the sale of Wind to the telecommunications group United Group, interests of BC Partners.
With the acquisition of Wind, Greece acquires a leading role in the strategy of United Group, as our country now becomes the largest market in which the group operates, at least in terms of the number of subscriptions.
Of the 15.2 million unique service revenue-generating subscriptions (RGU-Revenue Generating Units) counted by the group in the eight countries in which it operates, more than half, namely RGU 8.1 million, now come from Greece.
The € 1.3 billion investment program comes in addition to the approximately € 1.4 billion invested by the United Group in acquiring control of Forthnet and upgrading the company’s products and services to Nova, as well as for the acquisition of Wind.
As United Group’s strategy is to develop its own telecommunications network in the countries where it operates, most of the funds to be invested are expected to be directed to the development of fiber optic network, but also to 5G mobile networks. Part of the investment will be directed to pay-TV, both in new applications and content production.
As United Group CEO Victoriya Boklag stated in a written statement accompanying the announcement of the acquisition of Wind control: “Digital transformation and the development of fiber optics are underway in Greece.
“Through the investments that we will implement and our extensive experience from eight international markets, we are ready to play a decisive role in both of these sectors, bringing excellent products and top service to Greek households and businesses.”
Funds will also be required for Nova-Wind’s participation in the Recovery Fund digital projects, which also require private participation, while some funds will be required for the upcoming merger of the two companies.
The merger schedule
With the completion of the sale of Wind, the processes for the merger with Nova officially begin, a process that will take several months to complete in its entirety. Within the next quarter, the management team of the new company is expected to be locked in, with executives from Wind and Nova but also from the market.
It is noted that with the completion of the transaction, Nasos Zarkalis resigned from the position of CEO of Wind Hellas and his duties will be taken over by the General Financial Director of the company, Haris Kyriakopoulos, while the head of Nova is Panagiotis Georgiopoulos.
The consolidation of the two companies on a commercial level is expected to be completed within the second half of the year. The prevailing scenario is to keep the name of Nova and to abolish the use of the Wind brand, for the use of which royalties are paid every year to the Italian group.
At the same time, the procedures that will allow Nova stores to sell Wind mobile products and Wind stores to be able to sell Nova EON pay-TV are expected to be completed.
The last step of the merger is the consolidation of the network and the subscription base of the two companies, a complex process that is estimated to be completed in early 2023 and will pave the way for the creation of new triple play and quad play packages that will combine fixed-mobile and pay TV.
Read also:
– The acquisition of Wind Hellas by United Group completed – New CEO Haris Kyriakopoulos
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Source From: Capital
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