Poland’s state-owned railways company PKP will renew its attempts to privatise backbone network operator TK Telekom next year.
A sale process was first initiated in 2011. But following a drawn out process, the sale was shelved in February after PKP…
Poland’s state-owned railways company PKP will renew its attempts to privatise backbone network operator TK Telekom next year.
A sale process was first initiated in 2011. But following a drawn out process, the sale was shelved in February after PKP failed to receive an offer which matched its valuation of the telco.
A spokesman for the railways operator told TelecomFinance that TK is now being restructured to remove the part of the business responsible for maintenance and construction of telecoms infrastructure, although PKP has not decided what to do with the division yet. Once that process is complete, PKP plans to attempt a new sales process for the asset in 2014.
In February PKP said it had been in parallel talks with Polish telco Netia, Central and Eastern European telco GTS, and a consortium of Hawe and IT Polpager for several months but could not obtain a satisfactory sum for TK.
It is hoped that the change in structure of the unit will make it more attractive to investors and result in successful privatisation.
TK is 100%-owned by PKP and claims to be amongst the largest backbone network operators in Poland. Its cable network is about 30,000km long, much of it tracking the country’s railways, and it reaches 300 towns. On its website TK says its share capital amounts to PLN400m (US$149m).
