Brazilian telecom Grupo Oi SA will not undo its merger with Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, but it could sell Portuguese assets acquired in the deal, acting Chief Executive Officer Bayard Gontijo said in an interview on Thursday.Gontijo, who took over when Zeinal Bava resigned on Tuesday, said in order to pay down mounting debts the company was looking to sell non-core assets, including cell towers, real estate and its Africatel unit, which is valued at around 4 billion reais ($1.7 billion).Altice, a holding company backed by billionaire cable entrepreneur Patrick Drahi, is looking to enter exclusive talks with Oi to purchase its Portuguese telecoms operation, sources told Reuters on Thursday.While Oi is counting on asset sales to generate cash at the moment, CEO Gontijo said he is focused on turning around the company's weak earnings in the short term, a task he said would be helped by a merger among rival telecoms.
Oi SA, formerly Brasil Telecom SA, is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the provision of Switched Fixed-line Telephony Services (STFC) domestically and internationally. Shares of OIBR fell by 12.08% or $-0.078/share to $0.57. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $0.51 and as high as $2.09. On average, 15600200 shares of OIBR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 18080032.
Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (Portugal Telecom) is a Portugal-based holding company primarily engaged in the telecommunications sector. Shares of PT fell by 9.85% or $-0.2/share to $1.83. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $1.82 and as high as $5.02. On average, 1576550 shares of PT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2261109.
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