Telia finalised its NOK 21billion ($2.6 billion) acquisition of TDC Norway, hailing the deal as creating a strong challenger across mobile, TV and broadband in the country.

The transaction was first announced in July, with competition authorities approving the deal earlier this month. As part of the agreement, Telia will also acquire TDC-owned fibre and TV brand Get.

Incorporating the new assets will boost Telia’s footprint across the consumer TV and broadband sectors in Norway and allow it to increase its enterprise offering. The combined company will have 2.3 million mobile customers and 1.8 million daily users of broadband and TV services.

Q2 2018 GSMA Intelligence figures estimate Telia’s mobile connection market share at 29 per cent in Norway, compared to 55 per cent for market leader Telenor. As the incumbent, Telenor also has a huge fixed and broadband network in addition to offering IPTV through subsidiary Canal Digital Cable.

Announcing the deal in July, Telia president and CEO Johan Dennelind (pictured) said it would “create a leading convergent operator for both consumers and enterprises in Norway which can compete in the market with a lot of attractive and new products and services”.

The company expects to incur integration costs of NOK200 million annually in 2019 and 2020 with long-term synergies of NOK600 million per year.