Brazilian operator Telemar Norte Leste – better known as ‘Oi’ – completed its acquisition of Brasil Telecom late last week, vowing to spend BRL30 billion (US$13.1 billion) on doubling its combined customer base and expanding overseas. Oi paid BRL5.37 billion (US$2.3 billion) for a 61 percent stake in Brasil Telecom, the country’s third largest fixed-line operator, and will make a further offer to minority shareholders regarding outstanding shares within 30 days, the Rio de Janiero-based operator said in a statement to the securities regulator. According to a Bloomberg report, Oi CEO Luiz Eduardo Falco told reporters at a news conference that Oi was a looking at possible acquisitions in Latin America, the Caribbean and Portuguese-speaking regions of Africa, and was aiming to double its current subscriber base of 53 million to around 110 million in five years. “Our ambition is to be a Brazilian multinational,” Falco said. According to estimates last year, the combined company will control around 70 percent of Brazil’s fixed-line market, 18.5 percent of the mobile market and some 40 percent of broadband. 

Oi’s acquisition of Brasil Telecom was first announced in April 2008 but faced a lengthy delay in completion due to changes that needed to be made to Brazil’s regulatory framework. Previously, such a merger would have been illegal as a single group was forbidden from holding two separate telecoms concessions. However, the Brazilian government was understood to be keen to scrap the law in order to encourage consolidation in the market. According to Bloomberg, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva publicly backed the merger because it would create a fully Brazilian operator that could compete with international rivals in Brazil such as Vivo (jointly-owned by Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom) and Claro (owned by Mexico’s America Movil).