He Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi sovereign fund, has formally notified the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) its 9.9% stake in the capital of Telefónica. The fund has been in charge of sending the information to the Spanish supervisor as the controlling shareholder of STC Groupthe local ‘teleco’ that has made the investment.
The entity recognizes in its notification the need for authorization from the Ministry of Defense to be able to own 9.9% of the shares directly. Until then, 5% of the acquired stake is controlled indirectly through financial funds linked to the company. Green Bridge Investment Companywhich is the entity that controls the participation.
The group became the company’s largest shareholder last Tuesday in an operation that has been in the works for months with the collaboration of a large cohort of advisors. STC Group has disbursed 2.1 billion euros for the 9.9% stake.
After learning of the entry into capital, communicated a few hours in advance to both the company and the Government, the president of Telefónica, Jose Maria Alvarez PalleteI travel to Riadthe capital of the Saudi kingdom to meet with the company’s new top shareholders, who have shown their support for the current management and its strategy and ruled out presenting an offer to take control or a majority stake in the company.