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Bloomberg
Norwegian mobile operator Telenor ASA is acquiring a majority stake of Finland’s DNA Oyj and will offer to buy the rest for a total of 2.77 billion euros ($3.1 billion), challenging Telia Co. for dominance in the Nordic region.
Telenor will pay 20.90 euros a share in cash for the 54 percent of DNA held by Finda Telecoms Oy and PHP Holding Oy, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. It will also make a mandatory bid for the rest of the equity at the same price. DNA stock surged 7.6 percent to 20.94 euros as in Helsinki.
The deal will give Telenor control of the third-largest mobile operator in Finland, a country with the highest mobile data usage in the world. DNA is also the nation’s second-largest broadband service provider and biggest cable-TV service. Morgan Stanley analysts said the price implies a richer valuation for DNA than other recent industry deals.
Telenor and Sweden’s Telia will now be vying for customers in all the Nordic countries except Iceland: Telenor is already the second-largest operator in Denmark and holds the No. 3 position in Sweden.
Telenor, which has become the target of activist investor Constructive Capital, has turned its focus to markets closer to home after selling assets in India and central and eastern Europe.