AMSTERDAM: Slovakia launched a public offering of its 49 percent stake in former monopoly Slovak Telekom (DTEGn.DE), looking to raise up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) from the sale.
The price range for the initial public offering (IPO) was set at 17.7-23.6 euros per share, confirming a Reuters report from Friday, valuing the company at 1.5-2 billion euros, Slovak Telekom said.
The company, majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom, said the offer for institutional investors would start on Tuesday and close on May 6. For retail investors, it begins on April 22.
The issue will be marketed on a roadshow with stops including Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Poland, said Branislav Bacik, head of the Slovak government agency managing state assets.
Slovakia plans to list its stake on the illiquid Bratislava market as well as the London Stock Exchange. The London listing will be in the form of global depositary receipts (GDRs). Shares will also be traded on the Prague Stock Exchange.
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) is not selling any of its 51 percent stake.
Slovak Telekom is the main player in the fixed-line market and No. 2 mobile operator in the euro zone country of 5.5 million people, behind Orange (ORAN.PA), and ahead of O2 Slovakia (SPTT.PR).
The fourth fully-fledged mobile operator, a newcomer to the market, is closely-held SWAN. Slovak Telekom has a 33 percent mobile market share by sales, its IPO prospectus said.
Pricing and allocations are expected to be announced on May 7 and the first trading day will be May 12. Up to 10 percent of the offer is expected to go to Slovak and Czech retail investors.
Citigroup (C.N) and J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners of the offering, while Erste Group (ERST.VI) and Wood & Co. are joint lead managers.
