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Mergers and Acquistions News

Categories: Telecoms

December 1st 2008, 14:20PM

November was a relatively quiet month on the takeover front, with few massive new deals being agreed. However, there was further progress one of the biggest deals of recent months, with the $28 billion (£17 billion) purchase of Alltel by Verizon clearing not one, but two regulatory hurdles in quick succession. The move was given the go ahead by the US Justice Department first and then shortly afterwards by be the Federal Communications Commission, AP reported. The agreement was not without its conditions though, and the FCC has insisted that Verizon Wireless must honour Alltel's pre-existing roaming contracts for at least four years.

There was also a notable deal in the telecoms sector, one which saw Japanese mobile provider NTT Docomo enter into a strategic alliance worth $2.7 billion with Indian firm Tata Teleservices. Other than this, there was talk of some large deals in the sector, but little sign of any concrete activity. Reuters reported that Emirates Telecoms has $3 billion for acquisition activities and is targeting firms in a number of markets including India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It was also revealed that the Nexit Infocom II fund has so far secured €75 million (£63 million) to invest in growth-stage telecom firms, with Finnish giant Nokia among the backers. A number of experts also stated that African markets are increasingly attractive to telecoms firms looking to purchase rivals due to the scope for expansion offered in the continent. There was also news of a big deal in Brazil at the end of the month, with Oi Participacoes announcing that it is on the verge of raising the 2 billion reais (£0.56 billion) it needs to acquire rival Brasil Telcom

In the semi-conductor market, the situation is perhaps best summed up by the claim from Quantance that it bucked current market trends by raising $12 million in funding. Indeed, the news this month seemed to indicate that while there is some appetite for deals in the sector, many firms believe that now is not the time to move. This was underlined by the fact that ON Semiconductor has withdrawn from its joint bid with Microchip Technology to takeover Atmel. According to ON, the idea of purchasing the firm is still an attractive one but the current economic climate means that it is just not possible. Microchip stated that it is eying the possibility of acquiring Atmel without the help of ON.

There were also two notable deals in the media and information services sector, with United Business Media acquiring Chinese newswire Xinhua PR for a cash consideration of $6 million). The deal also includes the corporate finance announcement distribution arm of the firm, which has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. And on the last day of the month, independent TV production firm RDF Media agreed a deal which will see it taken over by its management team and a Dutch investment firm. The bid is of 120 pence a share, valuing the company at £52 million.ADNFCR-1833-ID-18905255-ADNFCR

 

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