O2 Czech Republic Spin-Off Shortlisted for TMT Finance World Award 201513/01/16 / News

The spin-off of O2 Czech Republic, which took place last June and in which KŠB played a role, was shortlisted for the TMT Finance World Award 2015, which proves that IT, technology and media experts who were in charge of the shortlist appreciated the complexity, extent and special nature of the unique deal.

O2 continues to exist after the spin-off, which also led to the establishment of new company Česká telekomunikační infrastruktura a.s. (CETIN). The spin-off resulted in unbundling – the telecommunications infrastructure was transferred to CETIN while O2 remains a telecom operator. Voluntary unbundling can be considered unique on a global scale in the telecom industry and a potential model deal for similar transformations of other integrated telecom operators elsewhere in the world. However, the spin-off was unique for many other reasons as well. O2 is a company with a large and uneven shareholder structure and also has listed shares. More details on the complexity of the deal in legal terms are available here.

The deal was nominated for the 2015 Telecom Infrastructure Deal of the Year. The TMT Finance World Awards are held by TMT Finance, a British company providing global news and events in the IT, technology and media industry. More details on the awards are available here.