The Slovakian government plans to float its 49% stake in Slovak Telekom in Bratislava and London.
Majority owner Deutsche Telekom will not offer any shares and has stated its intention to retain its 51% stake in the company, Slovak Telekom said in a filing published by the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Last week, the government approved a plan to consolidate its two holdings in Slovak Telekom under the state’s National Property Fund as a precursor to the IPO.
At the time Reuters reported that Deutsche Telekom still had the opportunity to make an offer for the shares, but indicated that it was showing little inclination to do so.
In its filing, Slovak Telekom highlighted the continuing support of Deutsche Telekom as an asset, pointing out that it provides scale , procurement economies and technical expertise, amongst other things.
"By integrating services across our own fixed and mobile networks we have transformed Slovak Telekom into one of Central Europe’s most exciting telecommunications companies and Slovakia’s only truly integrated quad-play provider," said Slovak Telekom CEO Miroslav Majoroš.
The telco has 1.16 million fixed network customers, including voice, broadband and pay TV accesses, and 2.22 million mobile customers.
"Through significant capital investment, improved efficiency and enhanced capability we now have an integrated offering enabling us to deliver higher value services and premium content through triple and quad-play bundles," Majoroš added. "The IPO will mark an important next step in our development and bring greater visibility to the value we intend to create."
