TeliaSonera confirms interest in Polkomtel

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TeliaSonera confirms interest in Polkomtel

Has submitted bid for Poland's second cellco, but may be up against several rivals

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 22 February, 2011

READ MORE: M&A | Poland | TeliaSonera

In the current wave of cellco M&A, the Nordic operators have been active as they look to expand beyond their advanced, but saturated, home bases. Many have turned to eastern Europe, as in the troubled alliance of Telenor and VimpelCom, and now TeliaSonera is bidding for Poland's Polkomtel, which has been put up for sale by its shareholders.

The company is valued at around $5bn and is currently owned by Vodafone, oil company PKN Orlen and minerals player KGHM Polska Miedz, each with 24.4% stake, plus energy grid provider PGE with 21.85% and Weglokoks with 4.98%. As many as 50 firms were understood to have expressed interest in the Poland's second cellco, after Orange, when it was put on the market last year. These included Turkcell and various private equity groups, including Apax, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners. Telenor, Telefonica and America Movil are also among the carriers purchasing bid documents, though this is not necessarily a sign that they are interested in buying the firm.

Vodafone has a right of first refusal to buy out the other stakeholders but has stated that it would prefer to sell, as part of its current program of divesting minority shares in international businesses. This is also likely to lead to sales its holdings in SFR of France and others - the minority interests were recently split off into a separate unit to facilitate such moves.