Euskaltel board recommends acceptance of Masmovil acquisition

Consolidation among Spanish operators got one stap closer after the board of Euskaltel recommended its shareholders accept Masmovil’s €2 billion acquisition bid.

The bid was made at the end of March amid all sorts of pledges by the would-be acquirer to retain Euskaltel’s Basque identity and generally be gentle with it. There were also the usual boilerplate promises about what a generally great idea the whole thing is, designed to placate and reassure regulators and shareholders alike.

Last week the Spanish authorities gave the acquisition (by Masmovil proxy Kaixo Telecom) the green light and, perhaps to create the impression of a dignified pause, the Euskaltel board took a week to formally recommend it to shareholders. It seems a lot of the major ones are already on-board and a 75% approval threshold it required for shareholder sign-off.

The document is largely in Spanish legalese, but we’re reassured by the reporting of Reuters’ Madrid office that it’s a recommendation to accept. The move would mark the consolidation of two smaller Spanish operators and would still leave four significant national players, so maybe the EU has decided the Spanish are capable of refereeing this one all by themselves. If that’s the case then the deal should close shortly.