Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telefonica, AES Corporation and First Solar Inc. - Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 6, 2010 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Deutsche Telekom (DT), France Telecom (FTE), Telefonica (TEF), AES Corporation (AES) and First Solar Inc. (FSLR).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

T-Mobile/Orange UK Finally Unite

After a prolonged drama European telecom giants Deutsche Telekom (DT) and France Telecom (FTE) have officially merged their UK operations in a 50-50 joint venture. This follows the recent approval from the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), and other necessary regulatory clearances.

The management structure of the combined entity has been announced. The former chief executive of Orange UK will be the CEO of the integrated company while the former T-Mobile UK CEO has been designated as the Chief Financial Officer and deputy CEO. While the companies are likely to retain the Orange and T-mobile brands for now to prevent customer defection, a new brand, however, is expected within two years.

The merger (announced in September 2009) faced the possibility of an investigation in February 2010 by the UK antitrust watchdog Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which sought European Commission’s permission to scrutinize the deal as consumer groups expressed concerns about its impact on the competitive scenario in the UK mobile market.

However, the commission agreed to clear the merger as France Telecom’s UK unit Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s British subsidiary T-mobile UK agreed to surrender a portion of their combined 1,800 megahertz (MHz) broadcast spectrum (radio airwave) in the UK to speed up the regulatory approval of their proposed joint venture.

The merger has radically changed the competitive landscape in the British mobile market. The combined entity has now dethroned Telefonica's (TEF) UK subsidiary O2 UK (roughly 28% market share) as the largest wireless operator in the UK with a 37% market share and a cumulative subscriber base of approximately 28.4 million.

AES Solar Energy Gets Financing

AES Solar Energy Ltd., a joint venture between AES Corporation (AES) and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, announced that it has received a financing deal for about $233 million to fund the construction of a solar energy project in Italy.

AES Solar will construct the 43 MW Cellino San Marco (CSM) project in the Puglia region of Italy. Construction on the project is underway and the project is expected to start commercial operations by the end of fiscal 2010. AES Solar is using First Solar Inc.'s (FSLR) thin film panels for the project.

AES Solar Energy was formed to develop, own and operate utility-scale photovoltaic solar installations around the world. The addition of the 43 MW Cellino San Marco project will more than double the global operating portfolio of AES Solar, which currently includes 38 MW across France, Greece and Spain.

Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corporation is a global power company that owns and operates electric power generation and distribution businesses in 29 countries. The company’s operations are divided into three segments: Regulated Utilities, Contract Generation, and Competitive Supply. The company clocked 2009 revenue of $14 billion and owns and manages $40 billion in total assets.

AES Corporation has 1,500 MW of wind and solar projects in the U.S. and Europe, as well as 7,500 MW of core power projects under development primarily in Asia and Latin America.

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