Both of UK mobile operator EE’s joint venture owners have put the group under review for a possible IPO next year.
Speaking to investors during a conference in Bonn today, Deutsche Telekom CFO Timotheus Hoettges said the group had agreed with JV…
Both of UK mobile operator EE’s joint venture owners have put the group under review for a possible IPO next year.
Speaking to investors during a conference in Bonn today, Deutsche Telekom CFO Timotheus Hoettges said the group had agreed with JV partner France Telecom to consider a listing next year in what could be “the most exciting IPO in Europe”.
Hoettges said the company would wait until after the UK’s 4G spectrum auction had concluded in H1 2013 before any IPO. He added that the company was under no pressure to sell its 50% stake in the group.
DT told TelecomFinance that it would wait until next year before deciding whether to carry out a strategic review of EE internally or externally.
In late November, FT CFO Gervais Pellissier said the French incumbent could consider listing a stake in the group at the end of 2013, after its CEO said it had been approached by private equity firms for a minority stake in the UK unit.
Reports have put PE firms KKR and Apax in the frame for the stake, although an IPO is seen as more likely. However, in any scenario, both companies have expressed an interest in keeping control of the group.
EE was formed in 2010 when DT and FT merged their UK operations. Since then, EE has been operating as an independent financial entity after paying back debt owed to its parent companies. The UK operator has been issuing loans and bonds without its parent groups, and earlier this week it announced a £350m five-year loan with the European Investment Bank to expand its 4G network.
