Liberalisation of telecommunications markets has encouraged new entrants and in turn stimulated merger and acquisition activity. Economic forces drive investment and political forces increasingly permit foreign investment. But taking a share of a telecommunications operator is a significant undertaking and requires focus to drive value creation.
Challenge:
One of BT Telconsult’s existing clients had a strategy for expansion through the acquisition of overseas operators in adjacent markets. The client had already acquired a stake in an incumbent fixed and mobile operator and required a post-acquisition due diligence assessment to identify key issues to address and to develop forward plans.
Solution:
BT Telconsult assembled an experienced due diligence team, many of whom had already worked on due diligence work for the client as well as BT’s own joint venture and acquisition projects. The team assessed the fixed and mobile businesses as well as the organisation and people, producing a comprehensive set of prioritised recommendations for the networks, IT, operations, HR, sales and marketing divisions.
Benefit:
The client was given a clear view of what needed to be done in order to improve the value of the acquisition and develop a programme which addressed all the issues found. This included a requirement to improve the resilience of the fixed network and the need to address significant concerns about the management and planning of the mobile network, which was due to be launched within months of the review.
