PPF and e& close €2.15 billion deal 

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The “extremely complex” deal has been more than a year in the making, say the companies 

Czech telco group PPF has completed the sale of a 50% plus one share stake in its telecom assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia to Emirati-based telco e&. In doing so, the companies have formed a new joint venture called e& PPF Telecom Group.  

The deal is valued at €2.15 billion, with a potential earn-out of up to €350 million. 

The joint venture combines PPF’s telecom experience in Central and Eastern Europe with e&’s global tech resources to boost telecom services in the region.  

PPF will retain full ownership of its telecom assets in the Czech Republic, including O2 Czech Republic and CETIN Czech, which are outside the partnership’s scope. Additionally, PPF is set to acquire a 30% stake in CETIN Group from Roanoke Investment, making PPF the sole owner of CETIN Czech. 

“Together, we have created a platform to drive value creation in fast-developing telecommunications markets,” said PPF CEO Jiří Šmejc in a press release. 

“Our partnership with e& testifies to the quality of PPF’s industry expertise and local knowledge. In return, PPF’s telco teams will benefit from the global scale and technology know-how of e&, enabling us to meet our ambitions for further growth,” he continued. 

Earlier this year, the European Commission (EC) opened an investigation into the deal, over concerns that it has been “granted foreign subsidies that could distort the EU internal market”.  

Concerns stemmed from discussions that e& may have received financial support from UAE banks and the national government, which would have given PPF an unfair edge in the EU market according to newly introduced competition rules that came into effect in July last year.  

Earlier this month, the EC unanimously approved the deal. 

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