Third stage of TPSA privatization attracts 11 advisers

Eleven consortia, including ABN Amro, CA IB, CS First Boston, Merrill Lynch, ING Barings and JP Morgan, have submitted bids in a tender to become the Treasury Ministry’s lead advisers for the sell-off of 14%-30% of Telekomunikacja Polska S.A.(TPSA), the third stage in the domestic telecom giant’s privatization. The contenders in the race to oversee the sale reportedly made offers ranging from zl.0 to zl.18.2 million, while commission, measured as a percentage of the number of shares sold, would vary between 0.55% and 1.45% for foreign institutions and between 0.1% and 0.3% for domestic players. Ministry representatives have said that public bids for the stake will likely be requested in May or June of 2001. (Rzeczpospolita, March 3-4, p. B1) A.Z.