LONDON: Deutsche Telekom AG is close to a deal to sell 70 percent of its online classified advertising business Scout24 to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Citing unidentified sources, Bloomberg reported that the purchase would value the business, including debt, at about 2 billion euros or $2.71 billion and that an announcement from the German telecoms firm could come this week.
Deutsche Telekom and Hellman & Friedman could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
Reuters reported in October that private equity groups Apax, TPG, Hellman & Friedman, EQT and Silver Lake were expected to table offers.
Deutsche Telekom wants to sell part of Scout24, originally seen as a way to compensate for declining earnings at its traditional telecoms business.
In order to free up cash for a planned investment of 6 billion euros in broadband Internet technology development in Germany. (Reuters)
