Telefónica currently holds approximately 71.81% of the shares in Telefónica Germany

Spanish operator Telefónica has made a voluntary public acquisition offer to the shareholders of German telco Telefónica Germany to acquire up to 28.19% of Telefónica Deutschland shares, which are not already held by Telefónica.

The offer was made through Telefónica Local Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefónica.

The company stated it will make a cash offer of €2.35 ($2.51) per share, representing a 37.6% premium to the closing share price on November 6.

Telefónica currently holds approximately 71.81% of the shares in Telefónica Germany. In addition, Telefónica holds instruments that give the right to acquire approximately 1.32% of shares in the German operator.

“The offer reinforces Telefónica’s strategy to focus on its core geographies—Spain, Brazil, Germany and the U.K., and its strong commitment to the German market, representing one of the most attractive and stable telecom markets in Europe. The offer also supports Telefónica’s efforts to simplify the group’s structure,” the telco said in a statement.

“Telefónica believes the offer provides an attractive opportunity to access liquidity at a significant premium for all shareholders, in particular for those focused on the current dividend policy,” the telco added.

In October, Telefonica Germany announced the launch of its 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country under the 5G Plus brand. The carrier’s 5G Plus uses frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands.

Up to now, the German telco said its 5G services had been provided through the NonStandalone (NSA) 5G architecture partly via its LTE/4G core network.

The telco noted that the new network will enable customers to have access to voice-over-new-radio (VoNR) technology, which enables them to make calls with even better voice quality over the 5G network.

Telefónica Germany said it has already been using the 5G SA technology in 5G campus networks for companies and public authorities since 2020. With this new launch, the company noted that more companies in different sectors such as industry, healthcare and the public sector will have access to improved connectivity.

The European carrier activated nearly 1,000 new 5G sites nationwide during the first quarter of the year. The operator said it has been focusing on 5G network densification in both urban and rural areas of Germany.