Saudi Telecom (STC Group) announces the acquisition of 9.9% of the capital of telephonebecoming its first shareholder, as reported by the company itself through a relevant fact sent this Tuesday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). “STC Group announces that it has acquired a 9.9% stake in Telefónica, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world and with a significant presence in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil, for a total amount of 2,100 million euro”. The group indicates in this communication that it does not intend to acquire control or a majority stake in the Spanish company. For its part, Telefónica has indicated that it “takes note of STC’s friendly approach and its support for the management team, the company’s strategy and to its ability to create value” in another communication sent to the CNMV.
The investment has been made through the purchase of 4.9% of the share capital of the Spanish group and the other 5% has been acquired through various financial instruments. STC Group will obtain the voting rights corresponding to that 5.0% through the physical liquidation of the aforementioned financial instruments after obtaining the necessary regulatory authorizations. Until now, BBVA was the leading investor in the Spanish telecommunications company with 4.87% of the economic rights, followed by the North American manager Blackrock, which holds 4.48%, and CaixaBank, which has up to 3.5 %. “This is a great investment opportunity that allows us to use our strong balance sheet while maintaining our attractive dividend policy”they have pointed out.
With the purchase of 9.9%, Saudi Telecom prevents the Government from having to rule on the operation as the anti-opa shield is still in force, promoted by the Executive of Pedro Sánchez during the worst moments of the pandemic to protect Spanish strategic groups from foreign investment. If an investment is made above 10% capital, the Government must authorize the movement.
expansion strategy
In addition, as STC has highlighted, this acquisition represents “another important milestone” in its expansion and growth strategyand reflects confidence in Telefónica’s sustainable growth and upward potential.
As part of its growth strategy, STC has made a series of investments in the information, communication and technology sector, both in Saudi Arabia like abroad, the most recent being the acquisition by its subsidiary Tawal of United Group’s telecommunications tower assets in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. The group is listed on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of 49,000 million euros.
STC Group Chairman Mohammed KA Al Faisal has pointed out that his company shares many similarities with Telefónica. “This important long-term investment by STC Group is aligned with our growth strategy, according to which we invest in sectors such as technology and digital infrastructure in markets that we consider promising around the world,” he said.
stock market performance
Related news
Telefónica is revalued so far in 2023 by up to 15% and its capitalization is 21,570 million. The company titles have remained flat in the session on Tuesday and have barely risen 0.05%, to 3.75 euros. The company closed the second quarter of the year with a net attributable profit of 462 million euros, which represents 44.5% more than the 320 million euros in the same period of 2022. In the accumulated up to June, the attributable net profit stands at 760 million euros25.9% below of the 1,026 million euros in the same period of 2022.
Also, the operator entered €10,133 million between April and June of this year, 0.9% more that the 10,040 million euros for the same period of 2022, so that the company’s turnover in the accumulated first six months of 2023 is 20,178 million euros, 3.7% more than the 19,450 million euros of the first half of the previous year .