Orange Austria

In October 2007, MidEuropa acquired a controlling stake in Orange Austria (previously known as One GmbH), the number three provider of mobile telecommunication services in Austria, with approximately 2.2 million subscribers. The deal was the result of MidEuropa directly contacting France Telecom, which was looking for a bidding partner and welcomed MidEuropa given their previous positive experience together on Orange Slovensko. The intention was to steer the then-underperforming Orange Austria to best-in-class KPIs in a market that was expected to consolidate.

Operational improvements were supported, including a rebranding from One to Orange to enhance the firm’s market perception, a change in the company’s CRM and in-sourcing the IT infrastructure. 

MidEuropa sold its stake in Orange Austria to Hutchison 3G Austria Holdings GmbH in early 2013.

Partnership highlights:

• Operational performance improved in line with the investment thesis, supported by a change in CRM system
• Achieved the lowest fixed cost structure in the Austrian mobile market
• IT infrastructure was in-sourced, resulting in savings of 70% of IT costs 
• Strong increase of post-paid subscriber base in 2009 and 2010 driven by iPhone co-exclusivity and higher number of subscribers for its lower-end offering

Value creation:

• Operational Excellence