Slovakia’s government has abandoned plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of Slovak Telekom after receiving a better offer from majority shareholder Deutsche Telekom.
In April, the National Property Fund of the Slovak Republic (NPF) – which holds the government’s 49% stake in the operator – priced the IPO at between €17.7 and €23.6 per share, valuing the stake at €750 million-€1 billion, and Slovak Telekom at €1.5 billion-€2 billion.
At the time, the NPF said Deutsche Telekom would not offer any shares and would retain its 51% stake in Slovak Telekom.
It seems the German incumbent may have gone a step further than that, with sources telling Reuters on Thursday that Deutsche Telekom has made a higher offer for Slovak Telekom.
"This morning the government received a better offer from strategic investors, a binding offer," said finance minister Peter Kazimir, in the report, prompting the decision to cancel the IPO.
He declined to name Deutsche Telekom as the bidder but unnamed sources cited in the report said that it has indeed made an offer.
The shares were scheduled to be listed on the Bratislava Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange. Approximately 42.3 million shares were due to be put on the block.
