High noon for Deutsche Telekom and Elektrim negotiations

Today marks the deadline for negotiations between Elektrim and Deutsche Telekom (DT). Yesterday, the price for Elektrim shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange rose by 3%, due to the fact that DT filed a letter of intent to take over a majority stake in six of Elektrim's subsidiaries dealing with stationary telephony and data transmission services, a transaction worth $180 million. Elektrim will most likely sign the contract with the German telecom company and its terms will be very close to those included in the letter of intent, according to Anna Wosiek from SG Securities. „If the transaction is concluded, Elektrim is going to lose control of its stationary telephony. The next stage will be loss of control over its cellular telephony,” said Zbigniew Lapinski from Deutsche Bank. Stock exchange experts stress that Elektrim will soon have to restructure its debts or ask its shareholders for permission to issue shares. On December 15, 2001, most of the holders of its last issue of convertible bonds may decide to present the said securities for repurchase. In that case, a new issue would be a must. (Parkiet, pp. 1,3)M. S.-C.