|
Articles & publications
07.06.2010
Central Telegraph to go under the hammer: the holding looking to gain control over the operatorRBC daily, Elizaveta Sergina
Svyaznivest could finally become the main shareholder of Central Telegraph. Last week, the State Property Management Agency promised to put up 21.78 of the operator up for sale in the operator. The starting price for a 21.78% equity stake in the operator amounted to RUR 902 mln.
The State Property Management Agency intends to put up for auction its equity stake in Moscow operator Central Telegraph, which amounts to 21.8% of the company’s charter capital. The agency made this announcement on July 6. The starting price of the stake was set at RUR 902 mln. The bid increment is RUR 10 mln.
Central Telegraph is a Moscow-based operator which provides fixed-line telephony services. The company also operates on the Moscow broadband Internet and cable TV market under the Qwerty brand. In full-year 2009 revenue from telecom services increased by RUR 176 mln compared with the year-earlier period and amounted to RUR 3.3 bln. As of December 2009 the operator had a subscriber base equal to 176,000 broadband Internet users, of which 150,000 are located in Moscow. The company’s network has a network with a coverage area of around 1.7 mln households, of which some 1.5 mln are in Moscow.
The largest shareholder of Central Telegraph is Svyazinvest, which owns a 38.2% stake in its charter capital. Another 10.59% is held by North-West Financial Company, and Depositary Clearing Company has 5.55%.
The main contender for the buyout from the State Property Management Agency is Svyazinvest. A source within the Board of Directors told RBC Daily that the company expects to gain a controlling stake in the operator’s shares. Central Telegraph could functionally replace another asset earlier held by the holding, MGTS. “The plan is that on the basis of the Central Telegraph’s assets a powerful Moscow telecommunications operator could be rolled out by expanding the base of operations. In addition, the company already has at its disposal an expensive asset in the form of the Moscow office”, RBC Daily was told by its source. In addition, the source pointed out that the equity stake could be bought out not by the state holding, but by its subsidiary structures.
Head of the Information Department of Svyazinvest Igor Pschenichnikov confirmed for RBC Daily that Svyazinvest intends to take part in the tenders and noted that the company will make an application of all the required documents.
The state holding announced its intention to put up for sale its stake in Central Telegraph for a number of years. The state’s stake in Central Telegraph was first put up for sale in 2003, but the tenders failed to take place since the state was unable to come up with a single position concerning the privatization of Svyazinvest which was being actively discussed back then on the market. At a later time, the plan was that Central Telegraph would be merged with Central Telecom in a bid to form a separate Moscow company. Eventually this plan was abandoned. “The company has a building on Tverskaya Street. Basically, this is the company’s main asset and its value should be fairly assessed when an appraisal of Central Telegraph is made, although this approach cannot be considered as correct, as it would be unfair to the other subsidiaries, and real estate is not always properly appraised”, one source points out.
|
