Serbia’s privatisation agency has requested non-binding offers for the state’s 58.1% in incumbent Telekom Srbija.
Prospective buyers have until 23 July to register interest, and 2 August to lodge non-binding bids.
Serbia’s prime minister,…
Serbia’s privatisation agency has requested non-binding offers for the state’s 58.1% in incumbent Telekom Srbija.
Prospective buyers have until 23 July to register interest, and 2 August to lodge non-binding bids.
Serbia’s prime minister, Aleksander Vucic, has said the government would require a substantially better offer than what it received during its last sale attempt in 2011, when Telekom Austria offered €1.1bn (US$1.59bn) for a 51% stake.
The government’s €1.4bn (US$2.03bn) price tag was not met, and this time Vucic has suggested that he wants adviser Lazard to seek an even higher bid citing Serbia’s improved investment climate. Lazard’s team is being led by its managing director of TMT, Vincent Le Stradic, and vice president Christophe Gehin, according to documents issued by the privatisation agency.
To qualify to participate in the auction, potential buyers must be either a telecoms operators with revenues of more than €500m (US$559m) a year, or a well-capitalised investor.
An investor must have at least €2bn (US$2.2bn) under management, or have accumulated at least €500m (US$559m) over the last 10 years, or have held at least a 10% stake in a telco – which itself has generated more than €500m (US$559m) in annual revenues – for at least 10 years.
The state owns 58.11% of Telekom Srbija, 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).
