Telefónica gains control of Brazil's Vivo

Telefónicareached an agreement with Portugal Telecom to purchase 50% of Brasilcel held by the Portuguese operator.


The entity to result from the Telesp-Vivo business combination, to which Telefónica will bring its extensive track record in integrating acquisitions and capturing synergies, will be the largest integrated operator in Brazil by all key metrics: by customer numbers (69.2 million to March 2010), revenue/OIBDA (11.8 and 4.1 billion euros in 2009, respectively) 1, and profitability (OIBDA margin 2009: 35%).


Chairman of Telefónica, Cesar Alierta, said of the outcome: "We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Portugal Telecom which benefits both companies shareholders. It is a unique value creation opportunity. Vivo leads the Brazilian mobile telephony market, a market to which Telefónica is strategically committed."http://www.telefonica.com