The approval from the Superintendencia Financiera (SIF) – the public authority controlling financial stability in the country – is the last step towards the completion of a deal which was first floated in February 2013, and accepted by stakeholders in April.
“We are pleased to have got the final permission so we can continue to focus on bringing innovation to Colombians,” said Hans-Holger Albrecht, CEO and president at Millicom.
Millicom will take financial, administrative and operational control of the merged company, UNE-Millicom, which is expected to secure a larger slice of the market to compete more aggressively with its rival players in Colombia – Telefónica and Claro.
“We have been partnering with Millicom since 2006 and we are now improving this relationship, increasing competitiveness in Colombia’s market and guaranteeing EPM’s sustainable participation in telecoms,” said Juan Esteban Calle, CEO at EPM.
In July this year, UNE EPM partnered with Alcatel-Lucent to deploy what is expected to be Colombia’s first 100G ultra-broadband backbone network.
