Belgacom completes acquisition of Belgian ISP Scarlet

December 1, 2008 - Belgacom has completed its acquisition of Belgian ISP Scarlet, following formal approval from the Belgian Competition Council on November 7th, enabling Belgacom to penetrate a new market segment and reinforce its multi-play offering in Belgium.

Under the terms of the agreement, Belgacom is buying all of Scarlet's shares for €175mn on a debt- and cash-free basis, €10mn less than initially announced. Scarlet has an international customer base of 180,000 broadband clients and a variety of products with a 'no-frills' positioning which Belgacom will continue under the Scarlet brand. Scarlet will continue to operate as a separate business unit while network and operational synergies are being realised.

Belgacom had 443,139 subscribers for its IPTV service 'Belgacom TV' by the end of the third quarter of this year, and reported that it had a total of 1,314,965 broadband customers by the end of the same period.