Ron Sommer, Deutsche Telekom’s CEO, avoided a positive or a negative answer when asked about whether DT plans to bid for Cesky Telecom. Local Lidove noviny newspaper makes s conclusion that DT does not plan to bid, because of the company’s effort to reduce debt. Although debt reduction is no doubt DT’s No. 1 priority at the moment, we still think DT will bid for Cesky Telecom as long as it can justify the price (strategically, the acquisition would make sense). Nonetheless, Cesky Telecom stock may be negatively affected by the newspaper’s report today.
(Jiri Soustruznik)