Southeastern Europe may soon see a successful privatisation, with at least one bidder meeting the expected valuation of Telekom Srbija. This could bode well for other regional incumbent sales including Vivacom (which also appears to have found a buyer) and Romtelecom.
The privatization of Telekom Srbija has reportedly drawn its highest offer from New York-based Colbeck Capital.
The fund reportedly bid €1.47bn (US$1.49bn) for the 58.11% stake, topping offers by private equity and strategics on both sides of the Atlantic, according to local newspaper Dana. The process is being run by Lazard.
The report suggested that another fund, Yucaipa, is working alongside Colbeck, with financing in place from Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Raffeisen and advice from Peter Fojo, who headed up Nextel Mexico before its sale to AT&T earlier this year.
Other bidders include Telekom Slovenije, as well as financial investors Novator, Mid Europa, Apollo (which according to some local reports is working alongside Telekom Slovenije) and Advent Capital, a person with buy-side knowledge said.
Other local reports named additional bidders as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
It is unclear whether Russia’s MTS is still in the race. Deutsche Telekom and Turkcell did not make it to the final round, according to the local reports. China Telecom had previously been named as a contender.
Spokespeople for Telekom Slovenije, MTS and Apollo declined comment, while the other investment groups did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The last privatisation process, for 51% of the telco, drew only one bidder, Telekom Austria, which offered €1.1bn (US$1.21m), well below the asking price.
Officials have repeatedly said that if the €1.4bn (US$1.54bn) asking price is not met, the government will once again call off the process.
The current process launched in August, when 14 groups submitted non-binding bids.
The privatisation has also attracted political opposition, one of the factors that derailed Telekom Slovenije’s privatisation earlier this year – Cinven was the sole bidder in that process.
The telco is 58.11% state-owned, with a further 20% held by the company as treasury stock, and the remainder by Serbian citizens and the telco’s current and former employees.
The privatisation is part of a wider initiative to sell off state assets under Serbia’s most recent budget balancing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Telekom Srbija also owns Mtel in Montenegro and Bosnia.
