Today the government is discussing the preliminary bids and is to decide whether to continue with the tender or sell the stake in a capital market transaction. The steering committee proposed that all five bidders be allowed into the second round. The bidders include Swisscom, Telefonica, Belgacom, the financial institutions Blackstone/CVC/Providence and the domestic PPF/J&T with Inway. The government meeting starts at 7:30pm CET and a press conference is expected at 10:00pm CET.
Yesterday Belgacom said that only after examining the books of CT and obtaining detailed information on the company would it decide whether to submit a binding bid. In the meanwhile the company said it would not comment on the price it would offer and on its intentions. Belgacom has reportedly offered CZK 416 / share. Source: CTK
Also, Dow Jones reported that Telefonica may potentially pay EUR 5bn for CT. We assume that the price is for the 100% stake and would translate into CZK 465.7 / share.
Separately, Eurotel paid a CZK 48m (CZK 0.15 / CT share) fine dating back to an Anti-monopoly Office decision in 2002 for the abuse of its market position together with T-Mobile by overcharging interconnection to Oskar’s network. Source: CTK