Polish state-owned railway PKP has extended the deadline for expressions of interest in TK Telekom by a fortnight to 14 November, citing strong interest from potential investors as its chief reason for doing so.
“Investors needed more time to analyse…
Polish state-owned railway PKP has extended the deadline for expressions of interest in TK Telekom by a fortnight to 14 November, citing strong interest from potential investors as its chief reason for doing so.
“Investors needed more time to analyse the data of the company and prepare the initial bids,” PKP’s managing director for the privatisation, Jacek Leonkiewicz, told TelecomFinance.
The deadline for preliminary bids has also been extended, from 19 November to 26 November.
PKP has hired local firms mCorporate Finance and Audytel to provide financial advice on the sale of 100% of its shares in the telco, and Weil Gotshal & Manges to provide legal advice. The railway firm expects the sale to be completed by the end of the first half of 2015.
Analysts have valued TK Telekom, which owns Poland’s fourth-largest telecoms network, at about PLN400m (US$121m).
PKP, which aims to reduce debt and upgrade its train system, has tried to sell TK Telekom previously but failed to find a buyer willing to meet its valuation.
The railway company held parallel talks with local operators Netia, GTS, now owned by Deutsche Telekom, and Hawe in consortium with IT Polpager before calling off the process in February 2013.
One Polish publication recently reported that local businessman Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, who controls media and telecoms group Cyfrowy Polsat, plans to look at TK Telekom.
Potential investors were reportedly put off by its complex structure and high number of staff.
A PKP spokesman told TelecomFinance in late October that, in contrast with the last sale process, TK Telekom is now a pure telecoms entity as its non-core maintenance and construction divisions have been spun off. This has resulted in “higher transparency and efficiency [and] also a decrease in employment by more than 63% versus December 2013”, he added.
TK Telekom’s fibre optic network stretches about 7,400km, running alongside railway tracks with direct access to stations in city centres, the PKP spokesperson said.
