The Serbian government has launched an initiative to privatize state-controlled telecommunications company Telekom Srbija. According to local reports, the government asked the Ministry of Economy and the Privatization Agency to define a plan to privatize the operator.
In February, Telekom Srbija launched a process to select an adviser for the privatization process, and ultimately selected French consultancy Lazard Freres to provide management consulting services throughout the process.
The government also set up a working group to carry out negotiations with potential strategic partners and investors. The country’s Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic was appointed chairman of the working group.
The Serbian government currently owns 58.11% of the operator’s overall shares, while 20% of shares are owned by the company, 14.95% by the citizens of Serbia and 6.94% by current and former employees.
Telekom Srbija was valued at $2.44 billion in 2011, when the government asked for a minimum of $1.55 billion for a 51% stake in the operator. At that time, Telekom Austria offered $1.22 billion for the stake and the government decided to suspend the process.
“Today Serbia is a much healthier country and a much better investment destination than in 2011, therefore a much better price for Telekom [Srbija] is expected,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said. ““If we do not get a higher price we will not realize the sale,” he added.
Founded in 1997, Telekom Srbija provides fixed and mobile services as well as broadband and multimedia services. Through its subsidiaries, Telekom Srbija also has operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Spanish regulators approve Orange acquisition of Jazztel
In related news, the Spanish stock market regulator CMV said that 94.75% of local telecom operator Jazztel’s shareholders have accepted French telecom group Orange’s IPO to acquire the company. Jazztel’s shareholders accepted Orange’s offer of $14.45 per share, which will represent a total disbursement of $3.8 billion. The French firm will now be able to acquire the remaining 5.25% of Jazztel’s shares. Orange expects the acquisition process to be fully completed by mid-August.
Jazztel offers service as a mobile virtual network operator using Orange Spain’s mobile network infrastructure.
With the acquisition, Orange will be in a position to deploy a converged pay-TV, Internet and mobile communications network in Spain. Jazztel offers pay-TV, broadband and mobile telephony services, which are offered through a MVNO scheme.
Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s antitrust chief, recently said that the wave of mergers in the European telecom market may affect investment and will probably result in higher bills for consumers.
