Vodafone is set to sell its Hungarian business for $1.8 billion.

Egypt, November 26, 2020 Shoppers wear protective face masks in front of a Vodafone store in the City Center Mall ahead of Black Friday due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in the Madi neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 26, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/ File photo

LONDON, Aug. 22 (Reuters) – Britain’s Vodafone (VODL.L) said it will sell its Hungarian business for 715 billion forints ($1.8 billion) in cash. Central European country.

The British mobile phone and broadband group said it had agreed non-binding terms with its buyers, Hungary’s 4iG ( IGNY.BU ) and state-run Corvinus Zrt.

The deal – which excludes Vodafone’s shared services business VOIS – is expected to create Hungary’s second largest telecoms operator.

“The Hungarian government has a clear strategy to build a Hungarian-owned national champion in the (information and communication technology) sector,” Vodafone CEO Nick Read said in a statement.

The sale is expected to close by the end of 2022.

($1 = 404.0500 forints)

Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Sachin Ravikumar in London; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Kylie MacLellan

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