Neuf says in exclusive talks to buy Club Internet
(Adds details)
PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - French fixed-line telecoms group Neuf Cegetel NEUF.PA said on Monday it was in exclusive talks to acquire Club Internet, the loss-making French unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE).
The deal, which was widely expected by the market, takes consolidation a step further in France's cut-throat Internet access market and strengthens Neuf Cegetel in the race for subscribers against Free (ILD.PA) and Orange (FTE.PA).
A week ago, Neuf Cegetel denied having carried out any transaction concerning Club Internet which counted 570,000 high-speed Internet subscribers by the end of 2006.
Neuf said it expected to complete the deal by the end of the first half of 2007, pending regulatory and other approvals.
The operator did not reveal its price tag for Club Internet, which in 2006 incurred an operating loss of 100 million euros
($136.1 million) on sales of more than 200 million euros.
According to some media reports, the price could have been as high as 460 million euros.
((Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt, editing by David Holmes; Paris Equities, astrid.wendlandt@reuters.com, +33 1 49 49 54 40))
($1=.7348 Euro)
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