Five bidders are reportedly in the running for Slovenian incumbent Telekom Slovenije, as the new government moves ahead with the privatisation process.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, US-based private equity firms Providence and Bain Capital and European…
Five bidders are reportedly in the running for Slovenian incumbent Telekom Slovenije, as the new government moves ahead with the privatisation process.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, US-based private equity firms Providence and Bain Capital and European investment firms Apax and Cinven are in contention for the Ljubljana-based telco, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
About four other potential suitors have reportedly walked away from the process following delays.
The privatisation was put on hold as a result of Slovenia’s parliamentary elections in July, but new Prime Minister Miro Cerar has said his centre-left cabinet, which took office in September, will support plans to privatise the telco and 14 other state-controlled companies.
Slovenia, advised by Citigroup, plans to hold management presentations for the Telekom privatisation process this month ahead of a sale in 2015.
A spokeswoman for Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), which is coordinating the sales process, declined to comment on the report. However, she noted that Citigroup has informed investors about the next steps in the process, adding that it progressing in line with the envisaged schedule.
Deutsche Telekom, Providence, Bain, Apax and Cinven have declined to comment.
Deutsche Telekom is widely considered to be the favoured buyer as it already has multiple assets in Central and Eastern Europe.
Slovenia received first-round bids from strategic and financial investors before the process was suspended. In addition, to the five companies mentioned, Russia’s MTS and Turkey’s Turkcell were reportedly among the bidders.
SDH management board member Matej Runjak told TelecomFinance in early October that he believed there would be strong competition for Telekom, stressing that the holding is eager to compete the sales process as quickly as possible. SDH is optimistic it can be finalised by the first quarter of 2015, he said.
The state owns 72.38% of Telekom Slovenije, which has a market capitalisation on the Ljubljana bourse of €954.18m (US$1.2bn). The remaining shares are held by individual shareholders, local and foreign companies, institutional investors, brokerage houses and the company itself.
The government aims to raise up to seven times Telekom’s core earnings of €237m (US$296m), which would value the company at €1.6bn (US$2bn), Reuters quoted two sources as saying. The company reported net debt of €341m (US$425.9m) in 2013.
