Telekom Austria has finalised a share sale through which it raised €997 million. Among other objectives, the net proceeds will be used to pursue M&A opportunities so the operator can strengthen existing operations through in-market consolidation, as well as diversifying in those markets where it is currently mobile-only, and pursuing new opportunities, the company said in a statement.

Mexican operator America Movil and Austrian state holding company OIAG used all their subscription rights to buy around 60 per cent and 28 per cent of the shares respectively, thereby helping Telekom Austria reach 99.7 per cent of its €1 billion target.

America Movil wants to use Telekom Austria to facilitate expansion into central and eastern Europe, where the latter has operations in countries such as Bulgaria and Croatia.

“Approximately 25.5 million new shares were subscribed for at a price of €4.57 per new share by free float investors,” the company said in a statement, adding that the remaining 0.3 per cent shares will be taken-up by Deutsche Bank and sold in the market.

Telekom Austria also plans to implement an accelerated roll-out of its fibre infrastructure between 2015 and 2018 “in combination with latest technologies to ensure CAPEX efficiency” and meet increasing demand for high bandwidth services in order to “safeguard its network quality leadership in Austria”.