The privatization consortia bidding for Cesky Telecom in the current privatization tender will not increase their bids as required by the Cabinet, the Euro news weekly reports today. The deadline for new bids was set at July 19.
This would likely lead to halt of the privatization tender, which could cast a negative sentiment around the stock. Should Cesky Telecom management get a mandate for company restructuring (e.g., capital structure optimization, EuroTel acquisition), however, the tender cancellation would actually be positive for the stock (it is possible that once privatized by a financial investor-led consortium, CTel would sell its 51% stake in EuroTel, which would not be positive for Ctel stock, we believe).
Jiri Soustruznik