British-owned Vodafone is set to buy the cable operator Ono for 7.2 billion euros, the largest acquisition by a foreign company in Spain since 2008.
For Vodafone, the world’s second-largest wireless operator, the move opens the door to the cable TV business and more opportunities for profits than the highly competitive mobile device market.
Ono is Spain’s largest cable company, with 1.9 million customers in 12 regions and its own high-speed fibre-optic network. Following the deal, Vodafone’s share of the broadband market will rise from 7.5 percent to 21 percent, and they will also obtain Ono’s 1.1 million mobile service customers.
The deal will mean that three operators – Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange – will control over 90 percent of the mobile and broadband market by revenue and between 70 and 80 percent by customer base.