Telsource (a consortium of KPN and Swisscom) intends to make an international offering of its 27% stake in Cesky Telecom (87 mil. of shares representing CZK 28 bil. [USD 990 mil.] based on Friday’s closing price of CZK 321 per share), the company announced on Friday evening. Also, Telsource has asked the CT board of directors to call an EGM. Its agenda would include approving the release of information to facilitate the sale and an amendment of the articles of association related to the sale.
Given the limited choices Telsource has as regards divestiture of its stake, the offering is not unexpected, though the timing may surprise some. The impact on CT’s share price will largely depend on the offer details.
Separately, CT on Friday released a reference offer for local-loop unbundling. The wholesale price for full access to the local loop was set at CZK 491 per month (CZK 275 per month for shared access).
Note that the unbundling enables alternative operators to use CT's fixed-line network in order to provide their own data or voice services. As several alternative operators have already said that such a price would be too high, it is likely that the sector regulator will determine the wholesale price.
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