KGHM in talks with secret buyer for its telecom assets

Silver and copper miner KGHM Polska Miedź has officially confirmed it is in talks with a potential buyer for a majority stake in its Telefonia Dialog, and at the same time to sell its 19.6% stake in Polkomtel. "For sure, the buyer [for Dialog] is not Netia. It is a serious foreign telecom operator," said KGHM chairman Stanisław Speczik. Earlier, KGHM declared it was in talks with Netia about consolidating the telecom sector. The company has also signed an agreement with the National Grid (PSE) and Tel-Energo, both of which have expressed interest in the consolidation. Speczik added that he was interested in solving the problem of the future of Elektrim Telekomunikacja's El-Net, but would not reveal any details. In his interview for Rzeczpospolita yesterday, he said that selling Dialog does not put a stop to forming a telecom group and that taking over El-Net could be "quite real". "We are holding talks about El-Net with BRE Bank," Speczik said. (Parkiet, p. 3) J.K.