STC allowed to raise holding in Spain’s Telefonica

Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s STC Group has received the green light from the Spanish government to increase its stake in telecoms group Telefonica.

The approval allows the Saudi telecom to raise its holding from 4.97 percent to 9.97 percent and appoint a board member, the company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse on Thursday.

The minor change from the previously announced 9.9 percent is due to Telefonica’s own share cancellation in April 2024.

STC is finalising the relevant requirements to increase its voting rights, which is expected to be concluded in the upcoming period.

In September, STC invested SAR8.5 billion ($2.25 billion) to raise its holding to 9.9 percent. However, Spain’s acting economy minister Nadia Calvino said the Madrid government was reviewing the deal.

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“Telefonica is a strategic company for our country and as a government we will apply all the mechanisms that are necessary to prioritise the defence of our strategic interests,” Calvino told Reuters.

STC, which is 64 percent owned by the Public Investment Fund, owns subsidies and stakes in companies operating in Kuwait and Bahrain.