WARSAW, Poland-The Minister of the Polish State Treasury closed an agreement with a France Telecom consortium to sell a 35-percent stake in Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. for $4.23 billion.
According to the agreement, France Telecom’s Cogecom subsidiary will take 25 percent of TPSA’s shares, and Kulczyk Holding’s Tele-Invest subsidiary will purchase 10 percent of TPSA’s equity.
State-owned TPSA holds 66 percent of Polish mobile operator Centertel, which has more than 1 million subscribers.
In the largest transaction in the privatization of Poland, the state treasury will obtain $8.64 for each TPSA share, a 13-percent premium over the current market price. France Telecom will pay a total of $3 billion, and Kulczyk Holding will pay about $1.2 billion.
In addition to the 35-percent stake, the consortium has the right to acquire an additional 16-percent share stake in TPSA with a 10-percent purchase by July 31, 2001, and 6 percent under a second public offering. The public offering will include a minimum 14 percent of TPSA share capital and will be held no later than Sept. 30, 2001.
“France Telecom’s international experience and know-how will surely assist TPSA in streamlining our business model, while helping us maintain and increase our leadership in traditional telephony services, as well as in data transmission, mobile communications and Internet services,” said Pawel Rzepka, TPSA chief executive officer.
The agreement completes TPSA’s second stage of privatization. The company’s stock is traded on the Warsaw and London stock exchanges.
