Baluarte
04-12-2013, 03:38 PM
Consortium bids 277 million euros for Kosovo state telecom
(Reuters) - An international consortium offered 227 million euros (193 million pounds) for control of Kosovo's state telecoms firm PTK on Friday, in the government's second attempt to sell the country's most profitable company.
The consortium comprises Germany's ACP Axos Capital Gmbh and U.S.-based investor Najafi Companies in partnership with the UK's BT Group, an official at the government's privatisation unit said.
The sale of 75 percent of PTK is important for Kosovo, one of the poorest countries in Europe. It struggles to attract foreign investment because of high levels of corruption, a small market of 1.7 million people and tensions between the Albanian majority and Serb minority.
PTK, which competes with a division of Slovenia Telekom, has more than 1 million mobile subscribers, another 100,000 landline customers and provides internet and cable TV services. The sale does not include its postal arm.
The Kosovo government which plans to retain a 25 percent stake in PTK for at least another five years will not decide immediately whether to accept the bid, Economy Minister Besim Beqaj said.
The second-ranked bidder, Lebanese M1 International Ltd. offered 150 million euros, Gashani said.
Georgi Dimitrov, a legal advisor for the Axos-led consortium said that the winning bidders are hoping that the PTK has secured 35 million euros of cash.
"We are waiting for the last OK from the government and then we are ready to go (on)," he said.
The last attempt to sell PTK ended in failure in 2011 after a corruption scandal involving senior company officials.
The current tender was delayed twice after bidders asked for more time to line up financial backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank group.
The International Monetary Fund has warned the government, which is relying on the PTL sale to top up state coffers, it would be unable to start building a new motorway linking Kosovo to neighbouring Macedonia without first privatising the telecom.
Kosovo has a 100 million euro loan from the IMF.
The PTK paid 45 million euros in dividends to the government last year. In 2010, the government said it hoped to make 300-600 million euros from the sale but has not provided a more recent estimate.
BT said its role was limited to providing advice and it had no equity in the consortium's bid.
(This story corrects company name to BT Group in second paragraph)
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; additional reporting by Paul Sandle in London; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Erica Billingham)
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Seems the BND and the CIA intelligence operations 15 years ago are now giving their fruits
(Reuters) - An international consortium offered 227 million euros (193 million pounds) for control of Kosovo's state telecoms firm PTK on Friday, in the government's second attempt to sell the country's most profitable company.
The consortium comprises Germany's ACP Axos Capital Gmbh and U.S.-based investor Najafi Companies in partnership with the UK's BT Group, an official at the government's privatisation unit said.
The sale of 75 percent of PTK is important for Kosovo, one of the poorest countries in Europe. It struggles to attract foreign investment because of high levels of corruption, a small market of 1.7 million people and tensions between the Albanian majority and Serb minority.
PTK, which competes with a division of Slovenia Telekom, has more than 1 million mobile subscribers, another 100,000 landline customers and provides internet and cable TV services. The sale does not include its postal arm.
The Kosovo government which plans to retain a 25 percent stake in PTK for at least another five years will not decide immediately whether to accept the bid, Economy Minister Besim Beqaj said.
The second-ranked bidder, Lebanese M1 International Ltd. offered 150 million euros, Gashani said.
Georgi Dimitrov, a legal advisor for the Axos-led consortium said that the winning bidders are hoping that the PTK has secured 35 million euros of cash.
"We are waiting for the last OK from the government and then we are ready to go (on)," he said.
The last attempt to sell PTK ended in failure in 2011 after a corruption scandal involving senior company officials.
The current tender was delayed twice after bidders asked for more time to line up financial backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank group.
The International Monetary Fund has warned the government, which is relying on the PTL sale to top up state coffers, it would be unable to start building a new motorway linking Kosovo to neighbouring Macedonia without first privatising the telecom.
Kosovo has a 100 million euro loan from the IMF.
The PTK paid 45 million euros in dividends to the government last year. In 2010, the government said it hoped to make 300-600 million euros from the sale but has not provided a more recent estimate.
BT said its role was limited to providing advice and it had no equity in the consortium's bid.
(This story corrects company name to BT Group in second paragraph)
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; additional reporting by Paul Sandle in London; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Erica Billingham)
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Seems the BND and the CIA intelligence operations 15 years ago are now giving their fruits