Competition authority gives green light to Claranet buyout by NOS

The Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) yesterday gave the green light to the acquisition of technology company Claranet Portugal by the telecommunications operator NOS.

The €152 million deal has passed the main regulatory hurdle, although it has not yet been concluded according to information from Portugal’s security market regulator CMVM.

“Following a communiqué made on January 27, NOS SGPS hereby informs that it has been notified of the AdC’s final decision not to oppose the merger that includes the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Claranet Portugal”.

“The closing of the operation will take place after the material acts necessary for the completion of the acquisition have been carried out and will be duly communicated to the market,” clarified the company led by Miguel Almeida, without providing details about the nature of these aspects.

In a recent interview with the online news source ECO, the CEO of Claranet Portugal, António Miguel Ferreira revealed that the British group that owns the company did not intend to sell the subsidiary which was one of its largest subsidiaries.

However, he later said that the company would accept an offer that would enable it to invest in other markets where Claranet already had a presence.

The Claranet group, of which the national subsidiary has been part since 2005, has around 3,300 employees spread across 24 offices in 11 countries (United Kingdom, Portugal, Brazil, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, India and the United States of America), as well as 50 data centers.