LISBON (Reuters) - Shares in Portugal Telecom (LS:PTC) jumped around 15 percent on Wednesday as optimism returned that shareholders will ultimately approve the sale of its former operations by its merger partner, Brazil's Oi (SA:OIBR3), without endangering the merger.
On Monday, shareholders postponed until Jan. 22 an assembly to decide on the 7.4 billion euro (5.73 billion pounds) sale of assets by Oi to telecoms group Altice (LS:ATCE) and Portugal Telecom's hard-hit shares fell on Tuesday after two sessions when trade was suspended.
"Looks like the market's bet is that the most likely scenario is that shareholders will approve the sale at the next meeting without reversing the merger," said Sergio Vieira, a trader at Orey Financial brokers in Lisbon.
Portugal Telecom's only valuable asset after the merger is its 25.6 percent stake in Oi, which should benefit from the sale and help Portugal Telecom's valuation.
