Spain’s Telefonica has confirmed it is considering “strategic alternatives” for its majority stake in Telefonica Czech Republic.
A Bloomberg report yesterday said Telefonica had hired Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale to help it find a buyer for…
Spain’s Telefonica has confirmed it is considering “strategic alternatives” for its majority stake in Telefonica Czech Republic.
A Bloomberg report yesterday said Telefonica had hired Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale to help it find a buyer for its 69% stake in the Czech business, which has a market value of about US$3.6bn.
In a short stock exchange filing today, the Madrid-based telco said it has held conversations with investor group PPF about Telefonica CR, adding that it is not yet certain of the “feasibility” of reaching an agreement or what the eventual terms and conditions of such an agreement would be.
An industry adviser with knowledge of Czech telecoms had previously told TelecomFinance that PPF, controlled by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, might seek to acquire a local operator to enter the market. The adviser had named Telefonica CR as PPF’s most likely target.
PPF participated in the country’s cancelled spectrum auction earlier this year but recently confirmed it will not take part in the upcoming auction because rules effectively block a new operator from merging with an existing one for the 15-year term of the licence.
Vladimir Evtushenkov, the billionaire founder of Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), could also be interested, having identified Telefonica CR as a potential takeover target in an interview earlier this year.
Telefonica is working to cut debt from about €51bn to €47bn by the end of the year. The telco agreed to sell its Irish unit to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa for €850m earlier this year – a deal currently awaiting antitrust clearance from the European Commission.
However, the Spanish telco has also made recent acquisitions, buying Dutch telco KPN’s German mobile unit E-Plus for €8.55bn (US$11.6bn) – pending antitrust clearance – and agreeing a deal to gradually increase its stake in Telecom Italia’s major shareholding group Telco.
