Telecoms analysts consulted by TELETIME News are apparently persuaded that Opportunity really does plan to sell its stake in Telemig Celular, its most valuable asset in the wireless segment, and invest the proceeds in buildout of Brasil Telecom?s wireless network.
Analysts say João Cox Neto, chief financial officer of the holding company for Telemig Celular, avoids commenting explicitly on this strategy (on the contrary, they note, he insists his company will go its own way) but has repeatedly told them the consortium with BrT never really left the drawing board.
If this is indeed what Opportunity plans to do, it would be worth asking how much a buyer would be asked to pay for Telemig Celular and who might be interested in a deal. As far as price is concerned, Telemig is one of the best positioned and most profitable telcos in Brazil. Based on market value it could theoretically be bought today for 1.328 billion Brazilian Reals (now about 442 million US Dollars). That corresponds to 653 BRL per customer (218 USD). However, the most recent deals have been in the range of 500-700 USD per customer. Some analysts believe a sale might fetch Opportunity 800m-900m BRL.
Mobile competition
