Treasury Minister hints at alternative TPSA investor

Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska has hinted that if France Telecom (FT) does not exercise its option to buy an additional 10% stake in Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TPSA), the Treasury could find a new investor. Last year FT, together with Kulczyk Holding, acquired a 35% stake in TPSA with an option to buy a further 10% this year at a price of zl.40 per share. However, with TPSA shares currently trading at zl.16.50 on the stock exchange, such a deal no longer makes sense for FT. In an interview with Puls Biznesu, Kamela-Sowinska said that she has not been approached by the French company with a proposal to renegotiate the share price. The option runs out at midnight tonight, and the minister said that if FT does not increase its stake, a void would be created that needed to be filled. However, she declined to respond when asked to confirm that Deutsche Telekom had made a competitive bid for the Treasury stake in TPSA. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) T.J.