Orange, the mobile division of France Telecom is close to take over UPC Romania, a local division of Liberty Global, internal sources said, quoted by the online publication DealWatch, a news service specialized on mergers and acquisitions quoted by BizCity.ro. Contacted by HotNews.ro, UPC Romania officials refused to comment while Orange officials declared that the information is false.
Quoted sources claim that the deal was already signed. Orange boss Didier Lombard declared, quoted by Romanian newspapers Ziarul Financiar and Business Standard in March that he did not exclude the possibility to take over UPC Romania, the second 3play operator in the country. The two companies started collaborating last year when they launched the first special common offer in four counties in the country which ended on January 31, 2008.
