Millicom International Cellular: Millicom and EPM finalise merger agreement

Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Updated

Millicom International Cellular: Millicom and EPM finalise merger agreement

  • Millicom and EPM have completed the full documentation of the merger agreement for the combination of their Colombian telecommunications and media businesses

  • The transaction will now be reviewed by the Colombian authorities. Provided this process concludes positively, we expect the transaction to complete by the end of H1 2014

STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Millicom, the international telecommunications and media company (Stockholmsbörsen: MIC) and Empresas Públicas de Medellín E.S.P. ('EPM'), the largest public service company in Colombia, signed today a final agreement to combine their respective businesses in Colombia. This follows the announcement of an agreement in principle in July 2013.


The regulatory process will now commence and comprise reviews undertaken by the Superintendencia de Sociedades (corporations authority), Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (consumer protection and competition authority), Superintendencia Financiera (financial authority) and the Autoridad Nacional de Televisión (television industry regulator).

Provided the regulatory review concludes positively the newly-merged integrated company is expected to:

  • Create a business offering a comprehensive range of bundled digital services to millions of households including mobile and fixed telephony, mobile and fixed broadband and payTV

  • Exploit the complementary geographic coverage and commercial offerings of UNE, EDATEL, ETP and Tigo

  • Implement a key component of Millicom's strategy to double revenue by 2017 and increase profits.

Millicom reiterates that following the proposed combination, the group net debt will increase by a total consideration of around $1.1billion as the new combined company will be fully consolidated upon closing of the transaction. All mid-term outlooks communicated by Millicom at its Capital Markets Day remain unchanged.

Commenting on the signature today, Millicom President & CEO, Hans-Holger Albrecht reiterated:

"I am delighted that we have been able to conclude such an agreement with our colleagues at EPM. It brings even closer the prospect of creating an exciting new business to provide a complete range of digital services to the people of Colombia. Meanwhile, we will work hard with the Colombian authorities to provide all the information they need to assess the proposed merger."

About Millicom

Millicom is a leading international telecommunications and media company dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa. Millicom sets the pace when it comes to providing digital lifestyle services to the world's emerging markets, giving access to the world, primarily through mobile devices. Operating in 15 countries, Millicom offers innovative and customer-centric products. The Millicom Group employs more than 10,000 people and provides mobile services, access to the internet, content and financial services to over 47 million customers. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular SA is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under the symbol MIC. In 2012, Millicom generated revenue of USD 4.81 billion and EBITDA of USD 2.07 billion.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements", which are statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning the parties' ability to complete the proposed transaction; the anticipated timing of the proposed transaction; the expected benefits and costs of the proposed transaction; management plans relating to the proposed transaction; any statements of operations, including the execution of integration plans; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Any statement in this announcement that expresses or implies any party's intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions (and the assumptions underlying them) is a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks, uncertainties and assumptions which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of the date hereof, and each party expressly disclaims any obligation to update or correct any forward-looking statements made herein due to the occurrence of events after the issuance of this announcement. This announcement is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com



For further information, please visit www.millicom.com or contact:
Press Enquiries:
Julian Eccles, +44 7720 409374
VP, Corporate Communications
press@millicom.com
or
Investor Enquiries:
Justine Dimovic, +352 27 759479
Director, Head of Investor Relations
investors@millicom.com

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