Page 27 - bne_newspaper_January_18_2019

Weekly Lists
January 18, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
bne:TMT
US-based IT giant DXC to acquire Russian- founded Luxoft for $2bn
Eurasian Economic Union considers launching digital currency in response to Western sanctions
DXC Technology and Russia’s Luxoft, two major, NYSE-listed IT service providers, announced a definitive agreement for DXC to acquire Luxoft, reported East-West Digital News (EWDN) in the first week of January.
At $59.00 per share in cash, the deal represents a total equity value of approximately $2bn, according to the press release.
Still subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be closed by June 2019.
DXC expects the acquisition to “broaden [its] access to digital talents” and to be “value accretive, driven by complementary capabilities and offerings, differentiated solutions for customers.”
The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
– Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – are considering creating a digital currency in 2020 or 2021, the Russian deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev stated last week.
Such a move is “inevitable,” the TASS news agency quoted Moiseev as saying, because of increasing difficulties in trade and exchange calculations and due to Western sanctions which affect “a growing number of organizations.”
While Russia is exposed to the threat of additional sanctions, the response “must be a reliable international payment systems independent from the US dollar.”
Even certain states outside the EAEU have expressed interest in such a project, said Moiseev.
Greece telecommunications company OTE, majority owned by Deutsche Telekom, has agreed to sell its entire stake in Telekom Albania to the Bulgarian company Albania Telecom Invest for a total consideration of €50m, the German parent company said on January 16.
This came after Telekom Srbija's offer to acquire its Albanian peer was rejected by the Albanian authorities, due to political concerns. Turkish- owned Albtelecom was also among the favourites to acquire Telekom Albania, which is the second largest telco in the country.
OTE agrees to sell Telekom Albania to Bulgaria’s Albania Telecom Invest for €50mn