Deutsche Telekom AG — M&A Activity 1999

Oct 4, 1999

News Details

Ad-hoc | 4 October 1999 17:55

Ad hoc-Service: Deutsche Telekom AG englisch

Ad-hoc Mitteilung übermittelt durch die DGAP. Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist allein der Emittent verantwortlich. —————————————————————————— Bonn, October 4, 1999 Deutsche Telekom Announces its Successful Bid for a 35% Stake in Hrvatske Telekomunikacije d.d. – Dr. Ron Sommer: This investment complements Deutsche Telekom’s Internationalization Strategy in Europe Deutsche Telekom announced today that the government of The Republic of Croatia has accepted its bid to acquire 28,660,987 ordinary registered shares in Hrvatske Telekomunikacije d.d.. Consequently, Deutsche Telekom will hold a 35 % stake in the company. Dr. Ron Sommer, Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Telekom said: ‘Our investment in Hrvatske Telekomunicacije is a logical extension of Deutsche Telekom’s presence in Europe. It complements our internationalization strategy in Central and Eastern Europe with our joint ventures in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia.’ Hrvatske Telekomunikacije, with revenues of 734 million US Dollars in 1998, is the incumbent national telecommunications operator in Croatia, operating a modern and highly-digitalised wireline access network in addition to two national mobile telephone networks which in June 1999 served 188,000 customers. With 60,000 internet users in June 1999, the company is also the leading provider of Internet and data services and is planning to provide cable television services nationally. Hrvatske Telekomunikacije’s penetration rate for fixed lines grew from 760,000 fixed line subscribers in 1990 to 1,570,000 fixed line subscribers in 1998. Through its investment in the company, Deutsche Telekom has the right to appoint four members of Hrvatske Telekomunikacije’s Supervisory Board and three members of the Management Board. Deutsche Telekom paid 850 Mio. US Dollars for its 35 percent stake in Hrvatske Telekomunikacije. Jeffrey A. Hedberg, Member of the Board of Management International, pointed out: ‘We believe that through this partnership we can play an important role in the development of Hrvatske Telekomincacije as a leading provider of a whole range of innovative as well as basic telecommunications services addressing customer needs across Croatia.’ Deutsche Telekom will provide Hrvatske Telekomunikacije with its international experience and resources in areas such as sales and marketing, mobile and internet communications, billing and operational support systems management, training and information technology. Deutsche Telekom will commit specialists and personnel to assist Hrvatske Telekomunikacije in these key areas, as well as to provide the company with access to technology and software. Deutsche Telekom, with revenues of nearly DM 70 billion (nearly 36 billions of euros) in 1998, is Europe’s largest telecommunications company and the third largest carrier worldwide. A total of about 12 million marketed ISDN channels makes Deutsche Telekom the world leader in ISDN. With now 3.6 million T-Online customers, Deutsche Telekom is Europe’s largest Internet provider. Offering a complete range of products and services, Deutsche Telekom has more than 47 million telephone lines in service and more than 8 million mobile telephony customers. With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks identified in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Ende der Mitteilung