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Government might sell under direct negotiation its 46% stake in incumbent telecom operator [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports](IntelliNews - Weekly Reports Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Romania's government might decide to sell under direct negotiations, as opposed to public offering procedures on domestic and/or foreign stock exchanges, its 46% stake in the country's incumbent telecom operator Romtelecom, telecom minister Razvan Cotovelea was quoted as saying by Bursa daily. A decision in this regard would be taken by the end of June by the consultancy team, Cotovelea said. Romania's telecom ministry has picked up last December a consortium of firms to provide consultancy services on the sale of the 46% stake still held by the government in Romtelecom. The consortium includes local Swiss Capital and BT Securities brokerage houses, UK-registered financial services provider UBS Limited and local law firm Musat si Asociatii. Romania's government alternatively considers floating the shares of Romtelecom on the local stock exchange and abroad - in London or Frankfurt, former telecommunications minister Dan Nica said in October. TELECOM MINISTER SETS PRICE TAG RANGE. The 46% stake should be sold, under direct negotiations, for EUR 300-600mn, minister Cotovelea also stated. He underlined the company's strong potential and recent investments and the future investments partly financed from the EU budget. Romtelecom is among the three telecom operators [along with Orange and Vodafone] on the market, and the price should reflect this, Cotovelea stressed. RE-BRANDING UNDER DEUTSCHE TELEKOM LABEL. The main shareholder of Romtelecom is Greece's OTE with a 54% stake. The shareholders of Romtelecom will re-brand the company under the T-Mobile label of Deutsche Telekom – the indirect majority shareholder, Romanian media reported in March. The re-branding would also include Cosmote – the mobile operator that is also indirectly controlled by Deutsche Telekom in Romania. Moreover, the joint CEO of Romtelecom and Cosmote has announced discussions among shareholders for the merger of the two companies. (c) 2014 Emerging Markets Direct Media Holdings LLC Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |