One bidder is a partnership of Bain Capital LLC, Germany’s Axos Capital and Slovenia’s BT Globalne storitve d.o.o. The two other bidders are Deutsche Telekom AG’s Magyar Telecom Nyrt and Skipti ehf of Iceland, Matjaz Jansa, a junior minister at the Economy Ministry, told reporters in Ljubljana today.
The initial deadline on 18 December has been extended at the request of several of the shortlisted bidders. Twelve bidders submitted tentative offers for the purchase of the 49.13% state stake in Telekom Slovenije, while the commission overseeing the sale invited seven of them to make binding bids. These are the British-German consortium Bain Capital & Axos Capital, joined by BT Global services; the Luxembourg-US fund CEP III/Carlyle, Croatian telco Hrvatski Telekom (which is owned by Deutsche Telekom), Australia’s Macquarie Bank, Hungary’s Magyar Telekom (also owned by Deutsche Telekom), Oger Telecom of the United Arab Emirates and Skipti of Iceland. While none of the bidders has backed out officially, the Luxembourg-US fund CEP III/Carlyle has not been active in procedures for a while, according to the head of the Electronic Communications Directorate at the Economy Ministry, Matjaz Jansa. Jansa is also a member of the government-appointed commission overseeing the sale, which is expected to provide more detail on the bids as early as Friday.
According to press reports, binding bids are certain to be submitted by Deutsche Telekom through Magyar Telekom (which means the Croatian telco is out), Skipti and British Telecom, bidding in consortium with Bain Capital & Axos Capital.
While it is uncertain what price the bidders will offer, Telekom closed at €414 on the last day of trading on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange last year. As to the type of investor the telco will get, its CEO Bojan Dremelj has said that the telco wanted a partner who would support the group’s further development, growth, expansion and integrity. “I think there are several companies among the potential bidders that most probably have exactly the same views,” Dremelj said then.
Apart from the parent company, the group comprises wireless subsidiary Mobitel, system integrator Avtenta.si, directory publisher Teledat, network maintenance company GVO and search engine operator Interseek and a number of subsidiaries abroad, in particular in the region of the former Yugoslavia. (portalino.it)
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
