Chile's Entel to sell fiber optic assets for $358 million

Chilean telecom giant Entel announced on Saturday that it will sell the assets of its fiber-optic business, which provides services to homes, to local company ON*NET Fibra in a deal worth $358 million.

The sale, led by investment banks BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY), Santander (BME:SAN) and financial advisor Scotiabank, is subject to approval by Chile's economic regulator, expected in the first half of 2023. Entel and ON*NET Fibra have signed an agreement under which Entel will continue to offer residential internet services over Entel's ON*NET network, Entel said in a statement. "By selling our network rather than exiting the fixed market, we are rapidly increasing our coverage to bring our internet services to homes at efficient costs and without the need to invest the sums required for a fiber deployment with this coverage," the statement said. Following the completion of this transaction, ON*NET Fibra is expected to reach more than 4.3 million homes in 2024. Entel operates in Chile and Peru and has more than 20 million mobile subscribers. Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!