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Investment
November 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Czech PPF Group sold quarter of its stake
in Hungarian Telenor
PPF Group of the richest Czech Petr Kellner sold a 25% stake in the Hungarian radio communications company Telenor, which includes Telenor Hungary and Telenor Real Estate, to Antenna Hungaria, the company announced in its press release from October 31.
“This transaction will strengthen our market position in this competitive and mature telecommunications market while at the same time affirming PPF’s commitment as a long- term, mid-sized telecommunications owner
in the CEE,” said PPF Group shareholder responsible for the group’s telecommunications assets Ladislav Bartonicek.
According to PPF, it will preserve control over the business. The management and supervisory boards are to be extended by one member of the new holding company.
“The exploitation of the mutual strategic
synergies allows both Antenna Hungaria and Telenor to provide even better and more complex media and telecommunication services in the Hungarian B2C market and to our business clients,” said Chairman of the Board and CEO
of Antenna Hungaria Zrt Zsolt Sarecz.
PPF Group acquired Telenor telecommunication in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and
Serbia in July 2018. PPF Arena 1 is a leading telecommunications group in Central and Eastern Europe, consolidating PPF’s investments in the telecommunications sector (CETIN, O2 Czech Republic, Telenor CEE).
Few days earlier, PPF announced it acquired Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which holds some of the biggest TV channels in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia for $2.1bn. As a response, CME’s shares lost 5.40% on the Prague Stock Exchange on the same day.
Draft law limiting foreign ownership of Russian tech companies softened to set 49% cap
The draft law limiting foreign ownership of Russian tech companies to 20% has been soften and now capped at 49%.
The draft law on limiting foreign investors share of “strategically important” tech companies has been considerable softened with the cap on
foreign ownership increased from 20% to 49%, BMB reported.
The controversial bill was introduced by Duma deputy Anton Gorelkin and mirrors a similar bill that has already been enacted to limit foreign ownership of media outlets to 20%.