Telekom Srbija plans to acquire five more small local telecommunications companies in Serbia

National telecom giant Telekom Srbija has announced its intention to acquire five small local telecommunications companies as part of the latest wave of mergers and acquisitions on the Serbian market, BalkanEngineer.com has learned from a publication on Serbia-Business.eu. The target companies are Nova Telnet (Porodin), Media KDS (Sombor), MSAT Inženjering (Petrovac na Mlavi), Link 016 (Lebane), and KATV (Čoka).

According to the regulatory documents submitted, their combined revenues for 2024 amount to 680,680 euro with most of the companies reporting negative EBITDA for the last year. Only Link 016 and KATV recorded a modest positive profit.

According to data from the publication, Telekom Srbija has also notified the competition commission in North Macedonia of its intention to acquire "direct exclusive control" over these companies — a move that is usually taken in cases of cross-border influence or potential impact on neighboring markets. In this particular case, however, none of the target companies has any registered activity in North Macedonia, which makes the notification unusual from a regulatory perspective.

The analysis shows that the motives for the acquisition are not so much the current revenues of the target companies as their local customer base, existing infrastructure, and geographical coverage. For Telekom Srbija, such deals are a quick way to fill market presence in small towns and areas where independent providers maintain connections with local subscribers.

Consolidation also brings potential benefits for consumers, such as more stable services, unified network support, and opportunities to offer combined service packages. At the same time, experts warn of the risks of reduced competition at the local level, which could lead to higher prices and limited choice for customers.

The next steps in the procedure include negotiations with the shareholders of the target companies, a detailed assessment of assets, checks on debts and liabilities and, most importantly, approval by the antitrust authorities. The commercial implementation and integration plan will determine whether the acquisitions will lead to operational consolidation or socio-economic tensions at the local level.

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