Telekom Slovenije, the country's leading telecommunications provider which is in the process of privatisation, has submitted a non-bonding bid for the acquisition of its Serbian counterpart, the STA has learnt from an unofficial but well-placed source. The company would not comment on the information.
According to unofficial information cited by the business daily Finance, the other interested parties to pick up the information memorandum for Telekom Srbija are equity funds Advent International, Apollo, Colbeck Capital/Ron Burkle and industry peers Deutsche Telekom, France Telekom and American Movil.
The Serbian privatisation agency, which manges the process to sell a majority stake in Telekom Srbija, is being advised by the French company Lazard Freres. The Serbian state holds 58.11% in the telco, 20% are own shares and the remaining 21.89% shares are held by individuals.
Telekom Slovenije is amid a sales process itself. Unofficial information carried by Finance indicates that the supervisory board of the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) is to discuss this week whether to keep the company up for sale. Unofficially they would like the sole bidder, Civnen, to improve its offer.
After the UK buyout fund amended its original bid from May with new terms, the SSH declined to accept the new conditions in June on the grounds that they would entail excessive risk for the consortium of sellers and could result in a decrease in the sale proceeds.
The holding said then it was still willing to finalise the transaction under original terms endorsed by the SSH supervisory board on 10 June.
Source: Slovenia Times
