PPF Group wants to sell all Telenor assets, said two of the sources of the information platform. Another source added that no advisor had been appointed because the Kellner group manages its own investment processes.
“The PPF Group is not considering the sale of the mobile operator Telenor CEE or any of its parts,” responds PPF Group spokeswoman Jitka Tkadlecová.
According to one of the sources, Mergermarket, the PPF Group is already negotiating with the Hungarian government and companies with ties to the government regarding the sale of a mobile operator in Hungary. After all, last October the PPF Group sold a quarter in the company of the state-owned company Antenna Hungaria.
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Investors then gave Kellner Group a number of offers for Bulgarian telecommunications assets, said the telecommunications manager. The Bulgarian agency Novinite then quoted Kapital magazine, which stated that the sales process had not been started and that there was no so-called teaser, which is material for the company’s sale. However, Kellner allegedly informally mentioned the possibility of a sale and the US investment group Providence expressed interest in Telenor Bulgaria.
According to the mentioned telecommunications manager, the reason for PPF’s departure from Telenor is the costs associated with building 5G networks. PPF could rely on equipment from a Chinese supplier, he added. This would probably be the Chinese company Huawei, which, however, would be more difficult for PPF due to US opposition to it.
There may be another factor behind the sale. “This may be due to problems in another part of the business,” said the expert, who did not want to be named, saying that the Home Credit group was facing difficult developments.
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However, analysts doubt the sale. “I don’t think it’s on the agenda,” says J&T Bank analyst Milan Vanicek, noting that he sees no reason why PPF should get rid of these assets. “Originally, they wanted to build a Central European player in telecommunications,” said Petr Bártek, an analyst at Česká spořitelna.
But these are not the only factors against sales. PPF Group bought four mobile operators from Telenor in Norway in 2018 for 2.8 billion euros. It was the largest investment of the PPF Group in its history. “I’m not sure they would get better offers now,” adds Vaníček.
