Orange signs Romania merger agreement

The French operator is the leading mobile player in the country and will give the government a 20% stake in the entity.

Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, executive vice president and CEO of Orange in Europe said: "Today is a very important day for Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications, and signing this agreement will strengthen our position on the Romanian market and bring us closer to being a fully converged telecom operator for our residential and business customers.

“I want to thank the Romanian Government, our key partner, and our teams involved for this achievement.”

Orange has also signed an agreement with the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization (MCID) with a view to merging Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications.

The agreement follows Orange’s acquisition of a 54% stake in OROC in September 2021.

Last month Capacity reported that a merger between Orange and the former state controlled telecom company Telekm Romania had been given the green light by the government.

The merger is expected to be completed in the first half of the year and will allow Orange to simplify its operations, while reducing network and IT costs.

Julien Ducarroz, CEO of Orange Romania added: “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 Digitization 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”.