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Monday, October 6, 2014

Patrick Drahi's Altice seeks to purchase Oi's Portuguese assets - source, (NYSE: OIBR), (NYSE: PT)

Billionaire Patrick Drahi's cable and telecoms company Altice SA is looking to acquire the Portuguese assets of Brazilian carrier Oi SA, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. "Talks started a few weeks ago and are relatively advanced," the source said.Facing growing competition in the Brazilian market from foreign rivals, Oi announced plans in October 2013 to merge with Portugal Telecom SGPS SA .Portugal Telecom has already transferred its local assets to Oi and retains a minority stake in the enlarged carrier, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter. (bloom.bg/ZqMoBF)Altice is trying to reach an agreement over the Portuguese assets within weeks, Bloomberg said.

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 1.0% or $-0.0066/share to $0.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $0.51 and as high as $2.09. On average, 15916100 shares of OIBR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 11689332.

Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (Portugal Telecom) is a Portugal-based holding company primarily engaged in the telecommunications sector. Shares of PT traded higher by 2.0% or $0.04/share to $2.04. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $1.82 and as high as $5.02. On average, 1628010 shares of PT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1301597.



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