Group Zain Participaciones has officially informed that it will stop crossing shareholding in Brasil Telecom and in Telemar/Oi, with the purpose of attaining more transparency in control of both operators. Analysts considered this as another step towards merger of both operators.
Zain group, made up by Citigroup, Opportunity bank and the pension funds, Previ, Petros and Funcef, will split up shareholdings in Argolis, one of the main shareholders of Telemar/Oi. This operation will be analyzed during a special meeting to be held next February 8.
With this operation, Citigroup will raise its shareholding in Argolis from current 39% to 46%. Opportunity bank will have 47% (it now holds 45%), while pension funds will have a direct shareholding in Argolis of 7.4%.