Vivendi announces withdrawal from Elektrim, PTC

The president of French concern Vivendi has officially confirmed that his company is abandoning its investments in Elektrim and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), which owns the Era GSM mobile phone operator. In an interview for the French daily La Tribune, Jean-Marie Messier said the company intends to sell its telecom assets in Eastern Europe, labelling them as "not s trategic." Vivendi owns a 10% stake in Elektrim and a majority stake in Elektrim Telekomunikacja (ET), which in turn controls PTC. The Elektrim package currently in Vivendi's hands is valued at $18 million, while the ET stake is valued by analysts at $1 billion. It is not known who will purchase the assets from Vivendi, and when. Messier revealed only that it will happen within the mid-term. Andrzej Kasperek, an analyst with the BM Bank Handlowy brokerage house, said one of the potential buyers of the ET stake could be Deutsche Telekom. This possibility is difficult to measure, as PTC Elektrim and Deutsche Telekom are currently on opposite sides of an arbitration court battle. (Gazeta Wyborcza, March 9-10, p. 31) M.T.K.