The sale of Polish mobile operator Polkomtel may suffer delays or even fall apart because of disagreements among the five shareholders and their advisers, Reuters reports quoting people close to the transaction.
The newswire quotes a source close to one…
The sale of Polish mobile operator Polkomtel may suffer delays or even fall apart because of disagreements among the five shareholders and their advisers, Reuters reports quoting people close to the transaction.
The newswire quotes a source close to one of sellers saying that there was a significant risk that the sale could be scrapped since each of the state-owned shareholders had a different view on the transaction.
The source reportedly added that contention had emerged about the timetable for final discussions and political concerns related to the bid of controversial businessman Zygmunt Solorz-Zak.
Vodafone and heavily indebted PKN are reportedly keen to finalise the transaction, while KGHM would be more reluctant to separate from a stable source of revenues.
The report quotes another person close to one of the bidders saying that the transaction would be derailed if investment banks continued to compete with each other and setting their own conditions.
The four candidates who submitted second round bids in early June qualified for the next stage.
Sweden’s TeliaSonera (advised by BoA Merrill Lynch), local businessman Zygmunt Solorz-Zak (advised by Trigon, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank), Apax (advised by Morgan Stanley) and a consortium of Telenor (advised by Barclays Capital) and Bain Capital (advised by BNP Paribas) will reportedly have to complete due diligence by June 10, when binding bids are due.
KGHM, PKN Orlen, and Vodafone each have a 24.39% stake in Polkomtel, with PGE holding 21.85% and Weglokoks 4.98%.
PKN Orlen is advised by Nomura, while PGE appointed ING. KGHM is advised by Rothschild, and Vodafone hired Goldman Sachs. Nomura is coordinating the pool of advisers.
The transaction has been valued at PLN16-18bn (US$5.7-6.45bn).
The enterprise value reportedly includes some PLN2bn in net debt, PLN1.03bn in dividends and PZ103.7m for an antitrust fine. The company reported an EBITDA of PLN2.83bn and expects to report a similar figure this year
