TELIA-SONERA MERGER WALKS REGIONAL POLITICAL TIGHTROPE

摘要

On paper, the merger between Sweden's Telia and Fin-land's Sonera should form a Nordic powerhouse that controls the telecom affairs of Northern Europe in the Baltics. In reality, the union could run into trouble. Unlike most mergers in which regulation and financials are the usual stumbling blocks, the obstacle standing in Telia and Sonera's way is politics. If the two can pull it off, they may set an amazing precedent that could lead to the creation of a pan-Scandinavian mammoth in Europe that would not only survive expected consolidation, but could emerge as one of the continent's dominant carriers. The two former state-owned carriers put pen to paper last week, announcing a stock trade-off that would create a new Stockholm-based cross-border carrier with revenue of $7.8 billion and control more than 8.8 million fixed and 22.7 million wireless lines throughout Northern Europe. Both companies' governments, which still own majority stakes in their country's carriers, signed shareholder agreements committing to the deal, leading Sonera Chairman Tapio Hintikka and his Telia counterpart Lars-Eric Petersson to promise a merger by summer once all regulatory hurdles are cleared.