Potential buyers of Telekom Slovenije are reportedly down to three after two private equity firms dropped out of the sales process.
US-based Bain Capital has officially withdrawn from the process, while London-headquartered Apax Partners is following…
Potential buyers of Telekom Slovenije are reportedly down to three after two private equity firms dropped out of the sales process.
US-based Bain Capital has officially withdrawn from the process, while London-headquartered Apax Partners is following suit, local publication Finance.si reported, citing unnamed sources.
Deutsche Telekom is the sole strategic bidder remaining, while PE firms Cinven and Providence are also still in the race, the report stated.
A spokeswoman for Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), which is coordinating the privatisation, declined to comment on potential buyers. However, she noted that the sales process is in the second phase and that most management presentations for potential investors have been completed. Investors have now been asked to prepare binding offers.
Citigroup, the financial adviser on the transaction, declined to comment.
First-round bids for the Slovenian incumbent were received before the sale was put on hold for the second time in September following parliamentary elections and the formation of a new government.
New Prime Minister Miro Cerar has since said his centre-left cabinet will support plans to privatise the telco and 14 other companies.
SDH management board member Matej Runjak previously told TelecomFinance he was optimistic the privatisation could be completed by the first quarter of 2015.
The German incumbent is widely considered to be the favoured buyer as it already has multiple assets in Central and Eastern Europe.
The state owns 72.38% of Telekom Slovenije, which has a market capitalisation on the Ljubljana bourse of €960.72m (US$1.18bn). The remaining shares are held by individual shareholders, local and foreign companies, institutional investors, brokerage houses and the company itself.
