After several years lurking in the wings, private equity groups have emerged to prepare bids for Polish mobile operator Polkomtel, according to the Financial Times.
A successful leveraged bid by suitors Blackstone/TPG, Apax or CVC would yield one of the…
After several years lurking in the wings, private equity groups have emerged to prepare bids for Polish mobile operator Polkomtel, according to the Financial Times.
A successful leveraged bid by suitors Blackstone/TPG, Apax or CVC would yield one of the largest European buyouts since the market fell apart in 2007. A sale could kick off as soon as next month, the report said. Previous speculation has valued the company at some E4bn.
The financial buyers would reportedly be at an advantage over strategic buyers, primarily because the obvious candidates – France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom -would likely be barred from adding to their already significant assets in the country.
The Blackstone/TPG partnership is according to the Financial Times, drawing up a bid for Polkomtel valuing it at some 6x EBITDA (US$883m, as of last year).
Blackstone and Apax both own stakes in Danish incumbent TDC, which two years ago sold its 25% stake in the operator.
Polkomtel, Orange and T-Mobile share the bulk of the Polish mobile market, with the first two commanding 14 million subscribers apiece as compared to the third one’s 13 million.
The operator is owned by KGHM, PKN Orlen and Vodafone (24.39% each), while PGE holds 21.85% and Weglokoks 4.98%.
Earlier this year, the Polish owners said they were looking to make a joint sale of their combined 75.61% stake in the mobile operator, ideally to a trade buyer.
Since then, reports have persisted that Vodafone too is open to a sale. This has become more urgent as Vodafone shareholders are now calling for the head of chairman Sir John Bond, whom they blame for not assigning more dividends. They want the company to exit its minority investments, which include Polkomtel, China Mobile (3.2%), SFR (44%) and Verizon Wireless (45%).
Spokespeople for Vodafone and the private equity groups could not be reached by press time.
