From the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore: Telecom Italia is preparing to bid farewell to Cuba. According to rumors, the sale of its stake in Etecsa, the Cuban telecommunications company, is in the final stretch.Telecom's 27-percent share, which in the last six months Telecom valued at 367 million euros, would be acquired by the  Cuban government, which has control over the rest of the capital.

">From the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore: Telecom Italia is preparing to bid farewell to Cuba. According to rumors, the sale of its stake in Etecsa, the Cuban telecommunications company, is in the final stretch.Telecom's 27-percent share, which in the last six months Telecom valued at 367 million euros, would be acquired by the  Cuban government, which has control over the rest of the capital.

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From the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore: Telecom Italia is preparing to bid farewell to Cuba. According to rumors, the sale of its stake in Etecsa, the Cuban telecommunications company, is in the final stretch.

Telecom's 27-percent share, which in the last six months Telecom valued at 367 million euros, would be acquired by the  Cuban government, which has control over the rest of the capital.

The price being discussed for the transaction is still unknown, but, according to the rumors, it incorporates a premium.

[Blogger's Note: Market analysts Equita SIM on Tuesday estimated the value of the Cuban assets at 530 million euros.]

Telecom Italia's CEO, Franco Bernabé, said in mid-October that the negotiations for the sale of Etecsa shares were in an "advanced stage," explaining the decision by saying that "participation was never fully consolidated."

Nevertheless, Cuba offers a high potential for development, considering the still low prevalence of telecommunications services on the island. On June 30, Etecsa, which operates as a monopoly, had only 1,134,000 users of fixed lines and 852,000 users of mobile lines.

Last year, Spain's Telefónica expressed interest in picking up Telecom's Cuban shares. Telefónica is the largest single shareholder in Telco, the holding company that controls 22.5 percent of Telecom Italia's capital.

But the go-ahead from Havana, which is the controlling shareholder in Etecsa, never arrived. It remains to be seen, however, if the Spanish don't return to play later.

Source: miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2010/12/


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