History
The Brazilian investment bank Opportunity, which managed funds that had Citigroup and some Brazilian pension funds as investors, alongside Telecom Italia, paid 2.07 billion reais in June 1998 to buy Tele Centro Sul from the Brazilian government as part of the privatization process of Telebrás. After some legal wrangling, the company is now controlled by Citigroup and the Brazilian pension funds, who removed Opportunity from the management of their respective funds and took control of the company in 2005. BrT started up a wireless service in 2004.
Brasil Telecom's stock is traded on BM&F Bovespa, where it is part of the Ibovespa index, as well as on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 2008, it was announced that Brasil Telecom would be acquired by Oi. That transaction required changes in legislation, since legislation at the time prohibited a fixed telephone company from purchasing another fixed telephone company in a different license area. That legislation has since changed, and Oi completed its purchase of BrT on January 9, 2009.
Read more about this topic: Brasil Telecom
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