France Telecom bid for TPSA stake rumored to be $4 bln

According to the French Press Agency (AFP), which refers to anonymous Polish sources, France Telecom offered about $4 billion for 35% of shares in state-owned Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA). If this is true then the price will be much higher than stock exchange analysts expected. The French offer is much higher than the other bid by Telecom Italia and France Telecom also has the backing of labor unions as it promised no mass layoffs. The Treasury Ministry will soon decide who will become the strategic investor of TPSA and initially buy a 35% stake and later have the opportunity to own a 51% stake. (Puls Biznesu, page 3, Parkiet, page 1) M.M.