S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of European media and communications deal announcements, completions and updates from Dec. 21 to Dec. 28.

TOP NEWS

* Swedish telecom operator Tele2 AB is exercising an option to sell its stake in its joint venture in Kazakhstan to its venture partner, fixed-line operator Kazakhtelecom, according to a Dec. 28 statement. The transaction, which is expected to be completed in about six months, has secured clearance from Kazakhstan's antitrust regulator. The deal was triggered by Kazakhtelecom's acquisition of a 75% stake in Kazakh operator Kcell JSC from Telia Co. AB and Fintur Holdings BV, which is jointly owned by Telia and Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS.

* Japanese tech company NEC Corp. said Dec. 27 that it agreed to buy KMD Holding ApS, the holding company of Danish information technology company KMD A/S, for about 8 billion Danish kroner from private equity investor Advent International Corp. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of February 2019.

Other stories

* The Belgian municipality of Etterbeek, which is part of the city of Brussels, has sold its cable network to operator Telenet following an invitation to tender, according to a Dec. 28 news release. The deal provides the Liberty Global PLC unit with end-to-end control over the network's quality.

* Russian operator MegaFon is selling its stake in Forpost, the holding company for IT systems integrator Talmer, to local businessman Anton Cherepennikov, Telecompaper reported Dec. 28.

* Investment fund Pinebridge and other minority investors sold their 65% stake in Romanian cable operator Akta to Clever Media, Telecompaper reported Dec. 28, citing Ziarul Financiar. Clever Media is under the Look TV group of companies controlled by local businessman Adrian Tomsa.

* Upfront, a unit of Ricoh Co. Ltd.'s Belgian unit, acquired Wemmel-based IT company TeleSafe, Knack reported Dec. 26.

* ALSO Holding AG and MCI Euroventures have jointly offered to acquire all of the publicly held shares in Polish IT equipment and consumer electronics distributor ABC Data SA, Telecompaper reported Dec. 24.

* Zegona Communications PLC said Dec. 21 that it has dropped its plan to increase its stake in Spain's Euskaltel SA, citing unfavorable market conditions. Instead, Zegona intends to hike its interest in the regional cable operator through market purchases.

As of Dec. 28, US$1 was equivalent to 6.52 Danish kroner.

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