In response to Belgacom’s reported interested in the privatization of Cesky Telecom, the company told us that it is not currently interested in CT. Belgacom even did not request the information memorandum. We believe that Belgacom’s possible interest in driven purely by gathering information regarding current developments in the telecommunication market similar to Telefonica and TeliaSonera. We believe that further names may appear in the future, which however may not indicate any serious interest in the privatization of CT.
The Czech financial group PPF is reportedly also interested in CT.Note that financial groups can only take part in the tender in a consortium with a telecoms operator. Other financial investors intersted are in CT are BlackStone, CVC, Cerberus, Permira and Providence Equity. The participation of financial investors in the tender raises the probability that a higher price could be paid for the state’s stake, and thus consequently a higher minority buyout price. The National Property Fund said so far nine potential investors have asked for the information memorandum, five of which are telecoms companies (TDC, Swisscom, Vodafone, Telefonica and TeliaSonera). Source: Lidove noviny.