Digitaltveurope.com

Cable and pay TV group Digi is to acquire the retail and small business units of Hungarian service provider Invitel from the group’s owner China-CEE Fund.

Romania-based Digi, one of the biggest players in broadband and pay TV in the region, is paying approximately HUF43 billion (€140 million) for Invitel Távközlési Zrt, which posted revenues of about HUF26 billion last year.

Invetel said that the sale would enable it to focus on the development of its Invitech Solutions arm, which is not part of the deal. Under the terms of the agreement with Digi, Invitech Solutions will supply network and IT services to Digi for a minimum annual value of HUF2.8 billion a year for at least 10 years.

Invitel is planning to double the current revenue of Invitech Solutions, currently standing at about HUF24 billion a year.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, pending approval by the Hungarian competition watchdog.

“We are very pleased that with Invitel we can continue to grow in  Hungary. This strategic investment enables us to significantly  extend our service area. Invitel’s up-to-date and up-to-date  network upgrades are well suited to DIGI’s future-oriented optical networking strategy. After the closing of the transaction, we will continue the development to make the quality of telecommunication services available to more Hungarian  customers. We thank the leaders of the Invitel Group and China-CEE Equity Partners for their assistance in the successful transaction and we look forward to future cooperation,” said Serghei Bulgac, CEO of Digi Group.

David Blunck

David Blunck, CEO of the Invitel Group, said: “I’m very proud of Invitel’s team. Over the past few years, we have expanded the share of households with super fast internet speeds from our own resources to almost threefold in our network and we have steadily increased our TV share. The work that has been concluded today is also proven by our colleagues’ efforts and successful work . Special thanks to Langsteiner Marianne and his colleagues who have been successful in Invitel. “

China-CEE acquired Invitel in January this year for HUF63 billion from its previous owners, Mid Europa Partners-owned Matel and other financial investors.

Invitel Távközlési is the country’s second-largest fixed-line provider after Deutsche Telekom-owned Magyar Telekom, with about 1.1 million residential and business customers.