ITI looks set to blossom following major share issue

The ITI media group, which is registered in Luxemburg, expects to gain up to $130 million from its initial public offering (IPO) of shares, planned for the end of June and beginning of July. The majority of capital raised will be spent on repurchasing 33% of TVN shares from SBS Broadcasting and the remaining capital, probably around $30 million, will be used to develop the TVN 24 news channel, other special interest channels and the Multikino cinema network. Polish and foreign investors will be able to buy 68.4 million new B series shares and 42.2 million shares which are being sold by their current owners. The price is to be announced by July 3. The three members of the group's executive committee - Jan Wejchert, Mariusz Walter and Bruno Valsangiacomo - have stressed that television would remain the group's core activity. Valsangiacomo said that most ITI enterprises are already generating profits, including the Onet.pl internet portal and TVN 24. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1; Puls Biznesu, p. 4) M.T.