Brazilian telco Oi has finalized the sale of its fiber optic business to V.tal for R$5.71 billion ($980 million).
Valor International reports that the deal will be carried out through the settlement of debentures issued by Oi, worth R$334 million, and the issuance of 4.76 billion shares, valued at approximately R$5 billion, which were subscribed by Oi.
Oi has been looking to sell its fiber assets for some time, with Telefónica previously reported as a contender to snap up the unit.
Also last week, Oi confirmed the sale of its pay-TV unit to Mileto Tecnologia for R$30m ($5.2m).
As of the end of January, Oi has more than 572,000 pay-TV subscribers, representing around 6.4 percent of the market.
Oi's financial struggles date back many years. Founded in 1998 and formerly known as Telemar, Oi filed for bankruptcy back in 2016 with debts of R$65bn (US$19bn) and has been looking to sell its biggest assets since. The company was put in what was then Brazil's biggest-ever bankruptcy protection.
Through a number of asset sales, the company has been able to shrink that debt, which is thought to still be around $4.2bn.
Its mobile business was sold for R$16.5bn ($3.23bn) back in 2020 and split between Brazil's three big mobile operators TIM, Telefónica, and América Móvil, with TIM picking up the most assets.
In July 2023, Oi completed the sale of 8,000 telecom towers to Digital Bridge's Highline, while in October the telco agreed to sell selected telecom tower and property assets to American Tower Brazil. The latter deal is expected to bring in R$41 million ($7.5m) for the company.
The company only exited bankruptcy protection in December 2022, after six years.
