Investors holding more than 86 per cent of Masmovil shares accepted a buyout offer from Lorca Telecom Bidco, far exceeding the minimum number needed for the deal to progress to the next stage.

In a statement, Spain’s stock market regulator Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores said stakeholders representing 86.41 per cent of the company’s capital had agreed to the deal, which totalled €2.96 billion.

The minimum level of 50 per cent of equity had been met by 10 September. The transaction must now go through other regulatory steps before being completed.

In the immediate aftermath of Masmovil’s board recommending the offer, several minority stakeholders publicly slated the terms of the deal, the actions of the operator’s executive team and price tabled.

Indumenta Pueri, one of the detractors and the company’s third-largest stakeholder, withdrew its opposition last week.

Masmovil is the smallest of Spain’s four operators. GSMA Intelligence figures for Q2 placed its number of connections, including cellular IoT, at 8.9 million. Telefonica leads the market with 16.3 million, followed by the local units of Orange (15.6 million) and Vodafone (13.6 million).