Orange Romania struck a deal to acquire a controlling stake in fixed operator Telekom Romania Communications (TKR), a move to boost its converged offering in the country and increase competition in the sector.

In a statement, Orange said it intended to acquire a 54 per cent stake in the company, currently owned by Greece’s OTE, in a deal worth €268 million. The remaining 46 per cent is, and will, remain controlled by the Romanian government.

Orange explained the purchase price gives TKR an enterprise value of €497 million, and its proposed tie-up “represents a major step forward” in its ambitions around convergence services in the market, as well as increase investment and competition in Romania.

TKR is the second largest fixed line player in the country with revenues of €622 million in 2019, offering fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV services to 5 million customers.

In addition, the company operates an MVNO service through Telekom Romania Mobile, and has 881,000 fixed-mobile convergent customers. These customers will migrate to Orange Romania once the deal is completed,

Orange said it is currently the biggest mobile operator in Romania, with €1.1 billion revenue in 2019, and with TKR, it expects to offer services across B2C, B2B and ICT markets.

Liudmila Climoc, CEO of Orange Romania said the deal would give it the “opportunity to scale up innovative convergent services”.

“Orange Romania’s and Telekom Romania Communications’ network complementarity will allow us to bring together not only customers and teams, but also the best of expertise in terms of quality of service and future-proof mobile and fixed networks infrastructure,” she said.

The deal is subject to approval from relevant regulatory bodies, including antitrust clearance from the European Commission, and is expected to complete within the second half of 2021.