ETB to go up for sale after failed investor search

The board of Colombian state-controlled operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) has recommended that the operator's current owner, the Bogota city council, sell the company. The recommendation is due to ETB's incapacity to obtain the financial resources necessary to maintain competitiveness on the market, Reuters reports. ETB has twice failed in its attempt to secure a strategic partnership. ETB was planning to sell a controlling stake of 36.6 percent in the company to a new partner in a public auction scheduled for September. However, ETB received no bid, thus it had to stop its investor search. The Bogota city council currently holds 86.59 percent of ETB, while minority shareholders own the remaining 13.41 percent. Fernando Carrizosa, ETB president, values the company at around COP 2.4 billion (approximately USD 1.2 million). "That is the company's price today, but obviously that depends on the valuation made at the time [of sale]", Carrizosa told radio Caracol. Carrizosa also said there are interested buyers, but declined to name them.