France Telecom’s CEO has said there are no plans to sell a stake in UK mobile giant EE ahead of a possible IPO of the joint venture.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Stephane Richard told reporters that if he did decide…
France Telecom’s CEO has said there are no plans to sell a stake in UK mobile giant EE ahead of a possible IPO of the joint venture.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Stephane Richard told reporters that if he did decide to sell EE, which is reportedly being circled by private equity, then he would probably find strategic players.
However, he added that an IPO was still on the cards if the company was able to develop EE further and optimise its leverage, although FT would prefer to keep a controlling stake.
“There are no obstacles but this has not been decided yet,” he told the Financial Times in comments confirmed by the company.
US mobile giant AT&T is just one of the strategic companies reported to be considering acquiring EE. In addition, two private equity consortia – Apax/KKR and Blackstone/CVC – are also reported to be drumming up support for a £10bn buyout.
France Telecom and EE JV partner Deutsche Telekom first announced plans to list a stake in the UK mobile operator in autumn 2012.
