Hungary's Magyar Telekom bought a 51.1 percent stake in Montenegro's landline monopoly Telekom Crne Gore on Tuesday in the country's first privatisation this year.
Magyar , a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom previously known as Matav, paid 114 million euros ($153.1 million), or 4.7 euros per share, for the state's share in Telekom Crne Gore, the most profitable Montenegrin firm.
"The size of the investment shows that Montenegro is a secure investment destination," head of the privatisation agency Branko Vujovic said at the signing ceremony.
Magyar has said it will offer small shareholders who own the remaining stake 2.2 euros per share for their stock. If the offer is taken up by all small stakeholders, Magyar will have to pay an extra 51 million euros.
To sweeten the bid and woo small shareholders into selling to Magyar, the government has promised to pay them a bonus of 0.3 euros per share. Telekom Crne Gore paid a dividend of 0.5 euros per share in 2003.
The Hungarians are set to take over Telekom Crne Gore at an April 6 shareholders' meeting.
They have pledged to freeze tariffs until late 2006, keep all the workers in the next five years and not sell their stake in Telekom Crne Gore in that period without government consent.
The face value of Telekom shares is 2.98 euros. The stock gained 3.3 percent in the past week at a local bourse and traded at 2.38 euros per share after heavy buying by U.S. fund QVT, which now has a stake of 10.5 percent.
Source: Reuters
16.03.2005