Telefónica asks for €3BN capital injection for GVT acquisition

DetailsJuan Fernandez Gonzalez | 20 March 2015




Looking to close the deal with Vivendi to acquire cable operator GVT, Telefónica has reportedly been asking for a capital increase of €3,000 million in order to be able to pay the €4.5 billion in cash for Brazil's fourth largest pay-TV platform.


According to Spanish newspaper El País and Reuters, the telco has approached several American and Spanish banks for this financial support. The potential funding would be led by UBS, Morgan Stanley, but would also include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, HSBC and Spain's BBVA, Caixabank and Santander.

The GVT acquisition got the green light early this week from Anatel, the telecoms regulator. Now, Telefónica needs to convince the competition regulator, Cade, that the result of the deal - together with GVT, Movistar would become the third pay-TV player and the second largest broadband operator in Brazil – will be good for the country.

In addition to the €4.5 billion in cash, Vivendi, the current owner of GVT, will get a 12% share in Telefónica Brasil and over an 8% share of Telecom Italia.