TIRANA (Albania), January 17 (SeeNews) – The Albanian competition authority has announced that it has approved the sale of 80.27% of Albtelecom’s stake held by Cetel Telecom, a subsidiary of the diversified Turkish group Calik Holding, to the Hungarian IT service management company 4iG.

The competition authority has approved the concentration agreement in the Albanian telecommunications market, it said in a statement last week.

4iG said last month it had signed a final agreement to buy the majority stake in Albtelecom and expects the deal to close in January.

As part of the transaction, Calik Holding will acquire a 3.2% stake in 4iG as an institutional investor. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

After the transaction, Albania will continue to hold a minority stake in Albtelecom through the Ministry of Finance and Economy, which holds a 13.78% stake, and Albania Post, which holds 2.47 %, noted 4iG at the time. The remaining 3.48% stake is split among individuals, Albtelecom’s website says.

Founded in 1912, Albtelecom is the largest provider of fixed telecommunications services and the third largest mobile operator in Albania. Albtelecom generated revenues of €57.9 million ($65.6 million) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €17.4 million in 2020.

($ = 0.87593 euros)

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