Vodafone and TDC put a price on Polkomtel
Britain's Vodafone and Denmark's TDC have made an zł.8.7 billion offer to buy a controlling stake in Polish mobile-phone company Polkomtel.
Vodafone and TDC now each own 19.6 percent of Polkomtel, Poland's third-largest mobile operator, and have been in talks to buy out its Polish state-controlled owners, metals group KGHM, oil refiner PKN and utility PSE.
But talks on selling the Polish firms' combined 57-percent stake, either to the foreign investors or via a public share offer, have stalled ahead of general elections on September 25.
Reports indicate that Vodafone and TDC offered to pay zł.8.7 billion for an additional 46 percent stake, owned by the three state-controlled Polish companies. This offer was made directly to the Polish stakeholders, and not the Treasury Ministry.
Such a move would give Vodafone and TDC 85 percent in Polkomtel. The remaining 15 percent would be sold in an IPO.
This offer values Polkomtel at zł.15 billion. The operator has eight million clients and a large chunk of Poland's profitable business market.
Although the Treasury Ministry is not directly involved in negotiations, it is the main shareholder in each member of the Polish triumvirate among Polkomtel's stakeholders, and during a recent meeting with Vodafone and TDC, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha insisted that the sale process be "transparent, which is guaranteed by a public share offering." However, any IPO is unlikely to happen ahead of the elections in late September. (Reuters)
Vodafone and TDC now each own 19.6 percent of Polkomtel, Poland's third-largest mobile operator, and have been in talks to buy out its Polish state-controlled owners, metals group KGHM, oil refiner PKN and utility PSE.
But talks on selling the Polish firms' combined 57-percent stake, either to the foreign investors or via a public share offer, have stalled ahead of general elections on September 25.
Reports indicate that Vodafone and TDC offered to pay zł.8.7 billion for an additional 46 percent stake, owned by the three state-controlled Polish companies. This offer was made directly to the Polish stakeholders, and not the Treasury Ministry.
Such a move would give Vodafone and TDC 85 percent in Polkomtel. The remaining 15 percent would be sold in an IPO.
This offer values Polkomtel at zł.15 billion. The operator has eight million clients and a large chunk of Poland's profitable business market.
Although the Treasury Ministry is not directly involved in negotiations, it is the main shareholder in each member of the Polish triumvirate among Polkomtel's stakeholders, and during a recent meeting with Vodafone and TDC, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha insisted that the sale process be "transparent, which is guaranteed by a public share offering." However, any IPO is unlikely to happen ahead of the elections in late September. (Reuters)
