Oi to buy up BrT preferred shares

Brazilian telecoms operator Oi says it will continue buying up preferred shares issued by Brasil Telecom (BrT), either through direct trades or through public tender offers, reports BNamericas citing a company filing with the Sao Paulo stock exchange. The strategy will enable it to acquire up to one-third of BrT’s preferred stock currently in circulation, it said. Oi has already snapped up 13.6 million preferred shares in BrT Participacoes, equivalent to 5.92% of the total existing stocks, and 10.7 million preferred shares of Brasil Telecom, or 3.44% of the total. Late last month Oi’s controller Telemar successfully concluded negotiations for the acquisition of 22.28% of BrT parent company Brasil Telecom Participacoes for BRL5.86 billion (USD3.51 billion), which owns 65.64% of BrT’s total capital.