Ceske radiokomunikace (CRa) will sell its 40.4% stake in Contactel, an alternative telecom operator, to TDC of Denmark (which owns the remaining 59.6%) for one Czech koruna, as the equity value of Contactel is negative, CRa said yesterday. The sale is subject to both antitrust and Contactel shareholder approval. As the selling price was expected to be only symbolic, the news is neutral. Separately, Bivideon (the Deutsche Bank/TDC consortium that owns 72% of CRa) reiterated yesterday that it would not be required to make an obligatory buyout offer to minority investors should it cross the 75% ownership threshold in CRa if its presently proposed voluntary buyout offer, at CZK 245 per share, is approved by the Czech Securities and Exchange Commission. Also separately, today is the last trading day in the SPAD trading system with July 22 EGM rights for CRa shares.
Jiří Soustružník