SÃO PAULO—Brazilian phone company Oi SA is getting a long-awaited second chance at being a key player in the consolidation process in the country’s telecoms industry.
Oi said Monday that LetterOne, an investment firm led by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, proposed investing $4 billion in the Brazilian phone company, though the offer is conditioned on the success of a potential merger with TIM Participações SA, the Brazilian unit of Telecom Italia SpA.
If the merger goes ahead, LetterOne will be an important shareholder in the new company, though the exact size of the stake has yet to be defined, according to a person involved in the talks who declined to be identified.
The LetterOne investment will be presented to Oi’s board later this week and if it’s approved, “a formal proposal to Telecom Italia will be made by the end of November,” said the person, without providing any more details.
TIM Participações said Monday in a statement that there are currently no talks with LetterOne or Oi about a possible merger or acquisition. A LetterOne spokesman declined to comment.
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/letterone-seeks-to-invest-4-billion-in-brazils-telecom-oi-1445857229