Today (5 pm London time) is the deadline for potential Cesky Telecom bidders to express their interest in the privatization tender. It is not clear whether there will be any public announcement on the response, but we do expect some official or unofficial information to appear sooner or later. We also expect some big telecom names (Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom/Orange, possibly others) to show interest, in which case the stock could respond positively. In fact, speculation on positive news on this front may have contributed to Cesky Telecom’s gains on Tuesday. Indicative bids are due by January 9, 2002.
Marcela Guerlichova, deputy Transport Minister, is quoted in LN newspaper as repeating the government’s position that the tender would be canceled if, in the end, the bids are not high enough to satisfy the government. The government has not mentioned any “minimum price” recently. Early this year the government valued its 51% stake at CZK 80 bil. (CZK 485 per share), but it is not certain whether this is still the case.
(Ondrej Datka)