The Axos Capital-led consortium, which won the bidding to acquire a 75% stake in Kosovo’s PTK, is considering taking legal action against the government if it fails to complete the process.
The Hamburg-based investment firm said in a statement that…
The Axos Capital-led consortium, which won the bidding to acquire a 75% stake in Kosovo’s PTK, is considering taking legal action against the government if it fails to complete the process.
The Hamburg-based investment firm said in a statement that the government’s recent decision to cancel the privatisation process is “totally unacceptable by any standards and has significant legal, commercial, economic and financial consequences”.
Axos, which has British Telecom and Telecom Italia as technology partners, said it will consider launching legal proceedings under international law to protect its rights and interests.
The Kosovan government scrapped the planned privatisation of the telco in December after the deadline for signing the deal had passed. Parliamentarians had been unable to agree on the sale of this strategic asset.
Axos and the US’ Najafi Companies offered €277m (US$380m) for the 75% stake in the fully state-owned operator in April last year. The offer surpassed the sole other bid of €150m (US$206m) by Lebanon’s M1. The sale, which excludes PTK’s postal business, had initially been expected to close over the summer.
Axos has alleged that Kosovan MPs used the privatisation process to fight an internal political battle. However, in August, Kosovo’s Government Privatisation Committee attributed a delay in the signing of the deal to its rejection of additional requests by the consortium not part of the original bidding package.
PTK is considered to be one of the country’s most profitable companies with over a million mobile subscribers.
An earlier privatisation attempt was cancelled in late 2011 following corruption allegations against senior management.
