With a substantial offer, Proximus wants to buy Edpnet through the court. Various sources report this to our editors. The telecom giant confirms that it has bid on Edpnet. The provisionally independent telecom operator is in bad shape and had to request protection from a creditor last year. The company court must now decide whether Proximus can take over Edpnet. Other telecom companies also made offers.
“I can confirm that we have indeed made an offer,” says Proximus spokesperson in a response to HLN. “Our main concern is that continuity is guaranteed for customers and staff. That is the highest priority. We cannot comment on the outcome yet. There was a hearing yesterday, but we are now waiting for the verdict of the court,” said Proximus.
With 46,000 fixed internet subscribers and 20,000 mobile subscribers, Edpnet is a small player in the Belgian telecom market. In comparison: Proximus has 2.2 million fixed customers and 4.8 million mobile subscribers. Edpnet is also small compared to the telecom companies that Proximus acquired in the past. In 2021, Mobile Vikings reported having 335,000 customers, Scarlet had 180,000 fifteen years ago.
Millions of euros in debt
In any case, the telecom company from Sint-Niklaas cannot remain independent, because it carries a large mountain of debt with it. Court documents that our editors were able to view show that Edpnet has debts totaling almost twelve million euros with major bank KBC, but also with competitors Proximus and Orange.
After no agreement was reached with the creditors, the Dendermonde corporate court decided that Edpnet had to be sold. The proceeds of that sale can be used to pay off debts.
Companies could make a bid for Edpnet with the trustees. Orange and Proximus applied, but also Citymesh, which wants to become a fourth major telecom player together with the Romanian DIGI. But it is the market leader that will most likely be able to incorporate Edpnet. Various sources with knowledge of the file tell HLN that Proximus made the highest bid.
Are regulators interfering?
The takeover is not yet done. The court has yet to issue a final verdict. And then there are the regulators. According to our information, telecom watchdog BIPT would not be able to comment on the deal because of the legal proceedings.
The takeover does not have to be notified to the competition watchdog Belgian Competition Authority (BCA), because Edpnet remains below the minimum requirements. However, the BCA could open an investigation on its own initiative or at the request of a minister. It can only decide on this once the sale has been finalized by the court.
An interesting detail is that Edpnet said in mid-2022 that it would file a complaint with BIPT against Proximus because of the competitively priced internet subscriptions of subsidiary Mobile Vikings. “As a subsidiary of Proximus, Mobile Vikings apparently has different rules than we do. If we matched their offer, we would sell at a huge loss. That is also of no use”, said operational director Joachim Slabbaert at the time.
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