PPF Group selects the banks with which it is discussing the possibility of the CETIN telecommunications company returning to the stock exchange. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing known sources. The largest domestic owner of the telecommunications infrastructure CETIN, which is wholly owned by the PPF Group, operates fixed and mobile networks separated from the O2 operator. Since last July, CETIN has also included infrastructure separate from operators in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia.
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According to Bloomberg, PPF Group is cooperating with BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Société Générale regarding the initial public offering (IPO) of CETIN. According to sources, admission to the stock exchange could value a telecommunications company at approximately four billion euros (about 103 billion CZK).
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If listed, CETIN would return to the stock markets after about six years. At the end of 2015, the PPF Group crowded out its small shareholders. The shares of the O2 operator are currently traded on the main market of the stock exchange.
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CETIN was established in 2015 by separating networks and data centers from the O2 operator, which also falls under PPF. Kellner’s group bought a majority stake in O2 from Telefónica, Spain, in early 2014. CETIN manages over 44,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables. It operates a mobile network with coverage of 99.7 percent of the Czech population, the company states on its website.
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A representative of the PPF Group confirmed that CETIN’s entry into the stock exchange is one of the options discussed. He refused to confirm Bloomberg’s possible valuation of the company and the consulting bank. Spokesmen for the named financial institutions declined to comment.
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PPF Group invests in many industries, from financial services, telecommunications, real estate, engineering to biotechnology. At the end of the first half of the year, PPF owned assets of 44 billion euros (approximately 1.15 trillion crowns) and employed 98,000 people worldwide. According to Forbes magazine, Petr Kellner’s assets amount to 293 billion crowns.
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