Hong Kong firm to buy Orange Austria for €1.3 billion

Hong Kong's Hutchison 3G will buy Orange Austria from France Telecom and a private equity fund in a deal valued at €1.3 billion (Dh6.2 billion) including debt, expanding the corporate footprint in Europe of one of Asia's richest men.

The deal by the unit of Hutchison Whampoa follows a cluster of outbound M&A transactions from Asia in early 2012 as firms with strong cash piles and low debt buy assets in Europe, where economies are struggling with the debt crisis. Hutchison yesterday said it would buy 100 per cent of Orange Austria, confirming an earlier Reuters story. Hutchison shares rose as much as 3.8 per cent to HK$76.20 on the news, bucking a flat overall market.

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More details follows from GulfNews