Softbank strategy seems set to focus on consolidation

A major supplier of software for banks, Softbank, yesterday announced it wants to spend the revenue from its planned zl. 80 million bond issue on developing the company's domestic potential and to restructure its debts. The General Shareholders Meeting, which starts today, will vote on proposals. The issue is to begin in the fall, when hopefully the financial markets will have picked up. This strategy will mean that ideas of acquiring foreign companies are being shelved. Softbank president, Aleksander Lesz, announced these plans after his company's shares plummeted following rumors that it might might be a Polish Enron. Softbank plans to acquire innovative products and resources. Moreover, the enterprise is seeking to partially transform its short-term debts of zl. 80 million into a long-term one. "The details about amounts for different purposes will be known when we start the bond issue," said Lukasz Grochowski, Softbank's director in charge of contacts with investors. He also added that the issue should help the company to fight the competition more effectively. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp. 1, 4) M.M.