The Cabinet approved a preliminary timetable for the privatization of the state's 51% stake in CT yesterday at a regular meeting. The timetable assumes the following:
- Before Christmas - Information package should be available
- 20 December - tender opens - bidders may start submitting their bids
- First week in February - potential bidders should submit their preliminary bids
- Mid-February - Cabinet to receive an interim report on the process and may decide whether to continue
- week before the end of March - binding bids to be submitted
- 31 March - Cabinet to decide on the sale
- Mid-April – an SPO should the tender sale fail
The Cabinet also allowed financial investors to participate in the tender (in consortia with telecommunications operators, while operators must have at least 34% blocking minority in the JV). The tender's criterion should be the price. No restriction in terms of spinning Eurotel. The Cabinet expects the CT management to support both privatization methods, while the latter is prepared to provide the necessary support for both sale forms within legal limits. According to the deputy PM, Martin Jahn, Swisscom will enter the tender without any financial counterpart while TDC will probably bid together with financial investors. Jahn is not sure whether France Telecom will bid at all. Note that France Telecom told us earlier that it has a very restricted acquisition policy of max EUR 500m until 2005. Source: CTK, Bloomberg
Tomáš Gatěk, Patria Finance