Gov't Acted on Vodafone Deal Rather Than Miss Opportunity - Gulyás
Gergely Gulyás
Photo: Gergely Botár/kormany.hu
The government needed to act on the chance to acquire the local business of U.K. telco Vodafone if it didn't want to miss out on the opportunity, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, said at a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, according to a report by state news wire MTI.
Fielding questions about the announcement on Monday that state-owned Corvinus signed a term sheet for the acquisition of a 49% stake in Vodafone Magyarország, Gulyás said "the opportunity would not have arisen a year and a half later, or the chances of it arising would have been slim".
He said the deal in the making fits well with the government's economic activities as it boosts domestic ownership in a strategic sector and gives the state a stake in a company that "can stand on its own feet".
He added that the transaction would have a "positive" impact on consumer tariffs, but the scale of that impact couldn't be determined yet.
Asked whether the state would use credit to buy the stake in Vodafone Magyarország, Gulyás said the assumption "is not far from reality".
Corvinus and listed IT company 4iG entered into non-binding heads of terms with Vodafone Group to acquire 100% of the telco's Hungarian unit for a cash consideration equivalent to an enterprise value of HUF 715 bln.
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