A public call for bids for a 49.13% state stake in telco Telekom Slovenije will be published on 31 August in the Slovenian and European official journals and the Financial Times. The Economy Ministry explained on Tuesday that the reason for a week's delay in the planned publication of the tender was of technical nature.
Head of the ministry's Electronic Communications Directorate Matjaz Jansa told the press on 10 August that the public tender for the sale of the state stake in telco was expected to be published on 24 August, while he also mentioned the possibility of a one-week delay.
Jansa said then that three options for the sale of the state stake were envisaged: one would be to sell the entire stake, the other would be to sell part of the company with a three-year suspension, while the third option would be cross-ownership.
The valuation of Telekom Slovenije, whose market capitalisation is currently at EUR 3.2bn, is to be completed by mid-September, while first serious bidders are to be known in early November.
According to Jansa, some 10 to 15 bidders have already expressed interest in buying a stake in the telco. The head of the directorate however refused to name them. The ministry expects the sale to be successful if five serious offers are made.
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak was confident last week that the number of applications to the call as well as the price offered would correspond the quality of the telco. Vizjak believes that the price could be many-fold that of Telekom's valuation. "If the bids are not optimal in terms of the price and contents, and do not meet the set goals, I will not give my seal of approval," Vizjak told the press in Ljubljana on 14 August.
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