Hungary's central bank sanctions 4iG, MTelekom over collapsed T-Systems deal

4ig.

23/01/2020 08:05

BUDAPEST, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Hungary's central bank has
fined information technology firm 4iG  IGNY.BU  over the
collapse of a takeover bid last year, and called on telecoms
operator Magyar Telekom  MTEL.BU  to explain why it delayed
publishing insider information on the deal.
    Spokesmen for the two companies did not immediately respond
to a request for comment. Shares in Magyar Telekom opened 0.5%
lower at 458 forints on the Budapest Stock Exchange, in line
with the benchmark  .BUX  index.
    4iG signed a preliminary deal last July to buy its bigger
rival T-Systems, owned by Deutsche Telekom  DTEGn.DE  unit
Magyar Telekom, as part of a wider expansion drive fuelled by
debt.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N24A2CW
    But Magyar Telekom said in December that 4iG had terminated
negotiations. Shares in 4iG fell as much as 12.5% the next day
due to the unexpected collapse of the deal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nV9N26B018
    The central bank, which is also in charge of financial
market regulation, fined 4iG 5 million forints ($16,509) after
the firm presented an incorrect list of people with knowledge of
the breakdown in talks, in violation of the law, it said.
    "Based on the provisions of the European Union regulation on
market abuse (MAR), 4iG incorrectly specified when insider
information on closing the transaction originated," the central
bank said in a statement on Thursday.
    The bank has requested information from the two companies to
establish the timing of the deal's collapse.
    It said Magyar Telekom, which requested a delay in
publishing the insider information, had not provided adequate
justification for the lag.
    It called on the company to present a lawful justification
and barred it from any repeat of the practice. 
    
($1 = 302.87 forints)

 (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Jan Harvey)
 ((gergely.szakacs@reuters.com ; https://twitter.com/szakacsg ;
+36 1 882 3606 ;
https://www.reuters.com/journalists/gergely-szakacs))