TeliaSonera submits bid to buy Poland’s Polkomtel (Sweden)
Sweden’s TeliaSonera has confirmed that it has submitted a bid for Polish mobile network operator, Polkomtel – which has been put up for sale by its shareholders.
The company is supposed to be worth around US$5 billion.
According to TeliaSonera’s spokeswoman, they did put in an indicative offer and the advisers to the sellers will select who can continue.
Polkomtel, which trades as the Plus network is owned by Vodafone (24.4%), PKN Orlen (24.4%), KGHM Polska Miedz’ (24.4%), Polska Grupa Energetyczna (21.85%) and Weglokoks (4.98%)
It had been previously reported that Apax Partners, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners are among the big private equity groups working on potential bids for the Polish company, although that was before the formal tender document was issued last month.
In total, some 20 companies, including Telenor, Telefonica and America Movil have purchased bid documents, although that is sometimes for information about competitors rather than an indication that they want to buy the company.
Vodafone has a right of first refusal to buy out the other shareholders but has indicated that it would prefer to sell instead and recently split the shareholding out from its European division indicating that a sale was imminent.
Polkomtel to receive indicative offers by 21 February? (Poland)
If sources are to be believed, indicative offers for Polish mobile network operator Polkomtel are due by 21 February.The sellers are expected to cut down the shortlist of potential suitors to conduct due diligence by early March.
According to sources, the long-awaited information memorandum on Polkomtel was sent out last Monday. US buyout firms TPG and Blackstone Group are reportedly mulling over a shared bid, while London-based CVC Capital Partners and Apax Partners are looking at making their own bids for the company, as is Swedish telco TeliaSonera.
The eagerly expected sale has been complicated by the fact that Polkomtel is owned by five companies, with the Polish government holding substantial stakes in three of them, and each retaining their own financial advisor.
Poland’s largest power group, PGE holds a 21.85% stake in Polkomtel and is advised by ING Securities; oil refiner PKN Orlen holds 24.39% and is advised by Nomura Holdings; copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz also has 24.39% and is advised by Rothschild.
Poland’s Treasury owns stakes of 84.99%, 27.52%, and 31.79% in the three companies, respectively. The remaining shareholders in Polkomtel are Vodafone Group, which has a 24.39% stake, and coal miner Weglokoks, which is wholly owned by the Treasury and holds a 4.98% stake.
Sunrise looks up to France Telecom yet again
The head of Switzerland’s second largest telecoms operator Sunrise has reportedly stated that he could not rule out fresh merger talks with France Telecom.
Sunrise’s outgoing Danish owner, TDC group, had been planning to merge its subsidiary with France Telecom-owned Orange’s Swiss business but the plans were abandoned in June following a rejection by the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO).
According to Sunrise chairman Dominik Koechlin, he thinks the company could not rule out new talks on a merger between Orange and Sunrise.
TDC agreed in September to sell Sunrise to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Mobile operator Orange is one of Sunrise’s biggest rivals in Switzerland.
COMCO had objected to a tie up on the grounds that a merged company would have taken a dominant position in the mobile telephone market alongside top Swisscom, leaving the country with just two networks.
Polkomtel sale details to be sent out to potential investors
If reports are to be believed, the proposal document for the long-planned sale of Polish mobile network operator, Polkomtel will be sent to potential investors in the coming days. The sale is expected by the end of the first half of 2011.
Polkomtel which trades as the plus network is a joint venture of Vodafone, PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedz’, Polska Grupa Energetyczna and Weglokoks.
The company is estimated to be worth around US$1.6 billion.
As per the previous reports, Apax Partners, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners are among the big private equity groups working on potential bids for the Polish company. A buy-out of the group would be one of Europe’s biggest private equity deals since 2007.
Vodafone has a right of first refusal to buy-out the other shareholders, but has indicated that it would prefer to sell instead.
Polkomtel sale likely to be completed in 1H 2011 (Poland)
As per the Chief Financial Officer, Slawomir Jedrzejczyk of shareholder PKN Orlen SA, the sale of Poland’s mobile telephone company Polkomtel SA is likely to be finalized in the first half of 2011.
In recent months, potential suitors, including some of the world’s largest private equity firms, have closely monitored the moves of Polkomtel’s handful of diverse shareholders, who need to align their various interests to pull off the sale. Shareholders include several state-controlled Polish companies and U.K.-based telecoms giant Vodafone Group PLC.
According to Jedrzejczyk, the cooperation between all Polish shareholders is good and preparation and distribution of marketing materials on the sale should be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. The company is aiming for the information memorandum to be ready in November. However, when to send it out is a separate decision.
According to the earlier report, U.S. buyout firms TPG and Blackstone Group are working on a joint bid while London-based CVC Capital Partners and Apax Partners separately are looking at the company.
Polkomtel is owned by five companies: Poland’s largest power group, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA, holds a 21.85% stake and is advised by ING Securities; oil refiner PKN Orlen SA holds 24.39% and is advised by Nomura Holdings Inc; copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz SA has 24.39% and is advised by Rothschild. And Poland’s Treasury owns stakes of 84.99%, 27.52%, and 31.79%, respectively in the three companies.
The remaining shareholders in Polkomtel are Vodafone, which has a 24.39% stake, and coal miner Weglokoks SA which is wholly owned by the Treasury and holds a 5% stake in Polkomtel.
Vodafone confirms willingness to sell Polkomtel stake
As per the recent reports, Vodafone Group has assured its fellow shareholders in Polkomtel that it is ready to begin the sale of its 24.39% stake in the Polish mobile operator.
Polish firms KGHM Polska Miedz and PKN Orlen both hold shares of equal size to the UK-based group; even the domestic power company Polska Grupa Energetyczna has a 21.85% stake and Weglokoks, a Polish coal exporter, 4.98%.
The approval of all shareholders is needed to proceed with the sale. According to local reports, part of Polkomtel’s equity could be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Last month it was revealed that some of the world’s biggest private equity groups are lining up leveraged buy-out bids worth approximately US$5.2 billion for Polkomtel, including Apax Partners, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners.
Private equity groups in line to bid for Polkomtel
The world’s biggest Private equity groups like Apax Partners, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners are lining US$5.2billion, leveraged coup bids for Polish mobile operator Polkomtel biggest mobile phone operators, in which Vodafone owns a stake of almost 25 per cent.
The mobile operator is expected to be unlikely to attract interest from large European telecommunications groups. The company is likely to be valued at around six times EBITDA, which fell 14% US$883 million to last year.
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom already have Polish mobile businesses and would almost certainly run into objections by regulators if they tried to buy Polkomtel.
Vodafone, which once wanted control of Polkomtel, is now willing to sell its 24.4% stake as the UK mobile group looks at maximizing returns to its shareholders in part by selling minority stakes.
Vodafone has made no decisions on whether to sell but people familiar with the UK group was willing to exit if a suitable offer was made. While Vodafone could preserve its stake, it is unlikely to exercise a right of first negative response that would enable it to buy out Polkomtel’s other shareholders.
Any sale is unlikely to be completed before next year.
