Elektrim Telekomunikacja - who will buy the shares?

On Friday Vivendi Universal of France signed a preliminary agreement, to be concluded within two months, with a group of financial investors led by Citigroup Investments interested in purchasing 49% of Polish telecoms joint venture, Elektrim Telekomunikacja (ET). ET controls 51% of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), Eastern Europe's leading mobile telephone company. Some are speculating that the stake may be worth up to euro 700 million, while Rzeczpospolita says that the Citigroup consortium is even willing to buy 100% of shares in ET and pay up to euro 1 billion. Dutch company Eastbridge, which holds retail assets in Poland, including Warsaw's Domy Towarowe Centrum, is known to be part of the Citigroup-led consortium. It is unknown what Citigroup plans to do with the ET shares. Analysts speculate that Deutsche Telekom (DT), which holds the remaining 49% in PTC, may be a potential buyer of the ET stake. However, since DT is heavily in debt, a deal might take some time. (Rzeczpospolita, March 16-17, p. B4; Reuters) A.Z.