Slovenia has rejected U.K. private equity firm Cinven’s tweaked bid for Telekom Slovenije.
In a brief statement on Monday, Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), the state-run asset manager handling the sale of the government’s 72.75% stake in the incumbent operator, said the amended offer "represented too great a risk".
Last week, it emerged that Cinven wanted to alter the terms of its offer for Telekom Slovenije made on 20 May. The details have not been made public, but according to local media, Cinven wanted to withhold some of the purchase price until local regulators had issued decisions on the pending sale of Telekom Slovenije’s Macedonian unit and its acquisition of MVNO Debitel.
Neither SDH nor Cinven have disclosed the value of the latter’s 20 May bid. However, sources cited by Reuters said the private equity firm offered to pay between €110 and €130 per share depending on Telekom Slovenije’s performance and the outcome of ongoing litigation.
On 10 June, SDH accepted Cinven’s bid under the terms of its 20 May offer but on Monday changed its mind, claiming that the potential impact of the amendments on the purchase price was unjustified.
"SDH is still ready to complete the transaction under conditions approved by the supervisory board on 10 June," SDH said.
