Report: Telefonica to pay around EUR1bn for HanseNet

Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is close to finalising a deal with Telecom Italia (TI) to buy its German broadband division HanseNet for EUR900 million-EUR1 billion (USD1.32 billion-USD1.47 billion), Reuters reports, citing Spanish newspaper El Economista. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, TI confirmed that its German broadband unit was up for sale in February 2009. The following month Telefonica, UK-based telecoms group Vodafone and German cable operator United Internet all reportedly made bids for HanseNet, which had a total of 2.289 million high speed internet subscribers at 30 June 2009. Last month, Telefonica’s chairman, Cesar Alierta, said a deal would be closed ‘in the coming weeks, before the year’s end, for sure,’ adding that the two companies were discussing the ‘price and valuation of the alternatives’.