Today we will comment on the conclusion of the sale of Oi’s mobile assets to competitors Tim, Vivo and Claro, as well as the use of part of the amount obtained from the operation to pay off a billion-dollar debt contracted by the company.
Check below the comment by Rafael Bevilacqua, chief strategist and founding partner of the analysis house Levante Ideias de Investimento, on the subject. Every day, Bevilacqua brings you news and reviews of publicly traded companies for you to make the best investment decisions. This content is accessible to subscribers to UOL. O UOL has an exclusive area for those who want to invest their money safely and profit more than with savings. Meet!
Oi concludes asset sale and pays debt with BNDES
Telecommunications company Oi (OIBR3) concluded last Wednesday (20) the sale of its mobile assets to competitors TIM (TIMS3), Vivo (VIVT3) and Claro. The value of the operation was R$ 15.9 billion.
Of this amount, almost R$7 billion was paid by Tim (TIMS3), which holds the largest share, R$5.3 billion by Telefônica (VIVT3) and R$3.5 billion by Claro.
In return, Tim received 16 million customers, 7,500 base stations and 50 Megahertz (Mhz) of spectrum. Meanwhile, Vivo received 12.5 million customers, 2,700 stations and 43 Mhz of spectrum. Finally, Claro acquired 12.9 million customers, 4,700 stations, and did not receive part of the spectrum as it had already reached the limit after the acquisition of Nextel.
The operation brings a little breath to Oi, which is going through a complicated restructuring process. Of the total sale, R$ 14.5 billion has already been paid to the company, while the remaining amount will be retained for 120 days to cover any adjustments to the contract.
However, the sale caused controversy among smaller telecommunications operators, who believe that the operation increases the concentration of the sector in Brazil.
On the eve of the closing of the transaction, Associação NEO and Algar appealed to Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) questioning compliance with the merger control agreement (ACC) signed by Telefônica, Tim and Claro so that the purchase of the asset could be approved. .
Also on Wednesday, after the sale, Oi made the payment of a debt of R$ 4.6 billion with the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), referring to contracts entered into between the operator and the bank in 2009. and 2012.
The sale of mobile assets represents an important step in the process of reducing the company’s net debt, which totaled approximately R$30 billion in the third quarter of 2021. With the sale of mobile assets, this number drops by almost half.
In addition, the company is now awaiting approval of the sale of control of its fiber network to GlobeNet and funds from the BTG Pactual bank, for approximately R$13 billion, leaving the company virtually debt free.
Oi’s situation is still delicate, and it is difficult to imagine that the company will one day return to the level it was in before the beginning of the crash that turned its shares into “penny stocks”, that is, securities traded at the cents.
However, the completion of the operation strengthens the bets on the success of the company’s restructuring plan.
