Orange Group has officially signed an agreement with the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation (MCID) to merge Orange Romania (ORO) and Orange Romania Communications (OROC), solidifying their commitment to creating a fully converged telecommunications giant. This move follows Orange's acquisition of a 54 percent stake in OROC (formerly Telekom Romania Communications) back in September 2021.
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Key Merger Details
According to the official release, Orange Romania Communications (OROC) is one of the crucial fixed telecommunications operators in Romania, with a 54 percent subsidiary owned by Orange Romania and 46 percent being owned by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation in Romania. Orange Romania is the number one operator in Romania and a 100 percent subsidiary of Orange Group.
Merged Entity
As per the newly inked deal, Orange will hold 80 percent share capital and corresponding voting rights in the resulting entity, while MCID secures the remaining 20 percent. Orange Romania reported individual revenues of 1.2 billion euros in 2022 and is the number one mobile operator in Romania. Meanwhile, Orange Romania Communications, a key player in fixed telecommunications in Romania, reported revenues of 513 million euros in the same year.
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Unified Vision
Orange noted that the merger will support its ambition to strengthen its leading position in Romania. The future entity will aim to become the preferred provider of convergent fixed-mobile services on the Romanian market, both for the consumer and business segments, and will stimulate investment and competition in the telecommunications sector in Romania.
Commenting on the deal, Orange Romania said: "We are really pleased to announce the conclusion of such a strategic agreement for Orange Romania, which marks a crucial moment in the company's history and confirms the confidence of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation in our strategic ambitions, in the project and in the team. Now, with united forces, we accelerate towards the fulfilment of the common goal: to be the first option for fixed-mobile services in Romania."
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Anticipated Completion
Anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2024, the transaction is expected to generate significant synergies, primarily from leveraging ORO and OROC's shared customer base, optimising content, fixed network and IT costs, and simplifying ORO and OROC's corporate governance.
