Telekom Srbija to stay state-owned

News General Serbia 14 DEC 2015
Telekom Srbija to stay state-owned
The Serbian government has reached an unanimous decision not to sell the majority stake in operator Telekom Srbija. According to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, the prices received in the latest auction were not satisfactory, so the plan now is to reorganise the company, including the introduction of professional management, to make it more competitive on the market. Vucic expressed hope that in four years Telekom Srbija would improve its results so that it would be worth more. 

He added that the highest bid came from a US investment fund and that it was close to the asking price. According to earlier, unconfirmed reports Colbeck Capital Management was the highest bidder. The Serbian operator attracted in total six bidders, thought to also include Telekom Slovenije and Russia's MTS. The government had hoped to receive around EUR 1.4 billion for its 58 percent stake in the company. Vucic said that the sale of a minority stake is also being considered, but did not want to disclose any further details.

Categories:

General

Companies:

Telekom Srbija

Countries:

Serbia

Tags:

Government policy, M&A buyouts & divestments

Related Articles

SERBIA 19 DEC 2016

Serbia, Slovenia consider telecom operator merger - report

A joint session of the Serbian and Slovenian governments held in October discussed the idea of a merger of Telekom Slovenije and Telekom Srbija, companies both in majority state ownership, reports Slovenian daily Finance.si. The Slovenian government gave up on the sale of Telekom Slovenije to the Cinven fund, while the Serbian government cancelled the privatization of Telekom Srbija before the last elections. Telekom Slovenije, together with the Apollo fund, was one of the bidders for Telekom Srbija last ye

SERBIA 16 NOV 2016

Serbia open to sale of majority of Telekom at right price

Serbian Trade and Telecommunications minister Rasim Ljajic has told Politika that it is too early to talk about a fresh attempt to privatize state landline and mobile provider Telekom Srbija, adding that a third unsuccessful sale of a majority stake would be a "disaster" for the company. The authorities are still weighing options, and a decision has not yet been made whether to seek a strategic partner, offer a minority stake, or apply some other model, Ljajic said. He added, however, that Serbia would not

SERBIA 16 MEI 2016

Telekom Slovenije still interested in Telekom Srbija

Telekom Slovenije is still interested in Telekom Srbija, the Chairman of the Slovenian company, Rudolf Skobe, told Seebiz. He said that Telekom Slovenije will have to follow the global trend of consolidation and wants to become part of a "larger regional or global story". Skobe stressed that he does not know if there will be a new tender for the sale of Telekom Srbija, but that according to media reports the Serbian government is now seeking minority partners.

SERBIA 4 JAN 2016

Telekom Srbija will not be privatised in next 2 years

Serbian Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic announced that the government will decide in January what should be done to enable Telekom Srbija to survive the next four to five years, after the failed privatisation of the operator. He said it was not realistic to publish a new tender within the next year or two. In an interview for weekly Nin, he said the value of Telekom Srbija will have to be maintained and should be increased. One of the options is an international tender for new management, while the second is

SERBIA 17 DEC 2015

Telekom Srbija to be restructured, lay off workers

Telekom Srbija will have to be restructured following the Serbian government's decision to keep it a state-owned company. This means that it will have to shed jobs and change its business approach, said Serbia's Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Aleksandar Vulin. He told TV Pink that there are very precise projections about how many employees Telekom Srbija will have to lay off over the next four years, expressing confidence that there will be no opposition or conflicts over this b

SERBIA 16 DEC 2015

Telekom Srbija to pay EUR 638,000 to Lazard

Telekom Srbija announced that it will pay EUR 638.000 to consulting firm Lazard Freres for services in the company's privatisation process, reports Beta. The operator said the amount had been agreed upon before, as well as a variable in case of a completed privatization, at 0.319 per cent of the estimated value of Telekom Srbija.

SERBIA 10 DEC 2015

Serbian PM says close to decision on Telekom sale

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the government was close to the adoption of a decision on the privatization of Telekom Srbija, but that the offered price was still not enough. This offer is better than the one from 2011, but still not what had been expected, he said according to Tanjung news agency. He said talks about the offer would be held with the one serious bidder on 10 December.

SERBIA 1 DEC 2015

Lazard analyses revised bids for Telekom Srbija

Serbian minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications, Rasim Ljajic said that the government's commission overseeing the sale of Telekom Srbija received the revised offers of all six bidders to buy 58 percent of the company. The commission requested revised offers with an eye to stepping up competition among the bidders, the minister told Tanjug news agency. Privatisation advisor Lazard will analyse in the upcoming days the offers and deliver its assessments to the commission, then the government will m

SERBIA 25 NOV 2015

PM says Telekom Srbija bidder 'exerting pressure'

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that one of the bidders for Telekom Srbija has been trying to "exert pressure" on the Serbian government through certain media outlets, reports Tanjug. According to Vucic, recent reports about one of the bidders' offer are "not entirely correct." He also repeated that Telekom Srbija will not be sold unless a good price is achieved. According to earlier reports, the government received six bids for Telekom Srbija.

SERBIA 18 NOV 2015

Colbeck submits highest bid for Telekom Srbija - report

Colbeck Capital Management has submitted the highest bid for the majority share package in Telekom Srbija, reports local daily Telegraf. A total of six bids were submitted, including those of Mid Europa Partners, Apollo Global Management-Telekom Slovenije, Advent International, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Novator Partners. CCM also submitted a bid, of EUR 1.47 billion, the only bid to surpass the Serbian government's asking price of EUR 1.4 billion, informed sources told the daily.

SERBIA 17 NOV 2015

Telekom Srbija attracts six bidders

Six bids were submitted for the acquisition of 58 percent of Telekom Srbija, reports news agency Tanjug, citing Serbia's Minister of Trade and Telecommunications. Rasim Ljajic added that the third stage of the privatisation process will now start, lasting 14 days, after which a list of the highest bidders will be prepared. The privatisation commission will analyse all the bids received and submit a concrete proposal. He also said that he cannot mention any names of the bidders, as the privatisation advisor

SERBIA 14 OKT 2015

IMF to back sale of Telekom Srbija if price is right

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not expect the Serbian government to proceed with the sale of the national telecom operator Telekom Srbija if the price offered is not satisfactory, Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic said, reports Tanjug. The minister said that he expects binding bids for the sale to arrive by 15 November. Around 58 percent of the state-owned stake in Telekom Srbija has been put up for sale, with French-based company Lazard named as the operator's privatisation adviser in Marc

Just In

16:19

IDC figures show Q4 smartphone volumes up over 2% as Apple, Samsung outgrow competition

16:04

Poland improves broadband coverage in 2025 to nearly 8 mln addresses

16:02

Azercell expands payment options for Kinon app with bank card integration

16:00

Russian tablet market contracts in 2025

Commentary

2 JAN 13:21

Open Dutch Fiber's new management team takes up turnaround challenge

15 DEC 2025 13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

8 DEC 2025 11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

31 OKT 2025 11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

Background

12 JAN 00:04

The week in telecoms: CES brings Wi-Fi 8 and more smart glasses, while Warner sticks with Netflix

5 JAN 00:52

The week in telecom: Finnish security check, M&A completions and telco job cuts

23 DEC 2025 10:32

Netherlands TV-video market grows 2.6% in Q3 to EUR 759 mln

22 DEC 2025 00:25

The week in telecoms: YouTube, Instagram take on TV market and WBD rejects Paramount

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.