Hungary exempts sale of local Vodafone unit from competition scrutiny (updated)

4ig.

10/01/2023 07:47

(Adds background, analyst)
       BUDAPEST, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Hungary's government has
declared local IT firm 4iG's purchase of a 51% stake in
Vodafone's Hungarian unit a transaction of national strategic
interest, exempting the deal from competition scrutiny,
according to a decree published late on Monday.
    British telecom group Vodafone  VOD.L  said on Monday it had
agreed to the sale of its Hungarian business to local IT company
4iG and the Hungarian state. 
    Under the plan, 4iG will hold a majority 51% stake while the
Hungarian state will hold 49%, and the transaction is expected
to close later this month.
    The Vodafone deal is the latest of a series of moves by
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and oligarchs close to his
Fidesz party or his government that have expanded their
influence in strategic sectors since Orban gained power in 2010.
    In the decree, the government said 4iG's acquisition of the
Vodafone stake served the country's "security of telecoms
services supply" and would therefore qualify as a deal of
"national strategic significance."
    "The classification excludes, inter alia, the jurisdiction
of the Hungarian Competition Authority," brokerage Equilor said
in a client note on Tuesday.
 (Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and
Edwina Gibbs)
 ((krisztina.than@thomsonreuters.com;))