A parte il rating, sembrerebbe interessante. Certo che era più interessante il titolo (TLD sul NYSE) salito dell'80% in meno di un anno su buyout rumours. Certo che, se di buyout si tratta, che fine faranno le obbligazioni? C'è da fidarsi? Qualcuno ha delle notizie? Io ho trovato questo...
Big Private-Equity Funds Circle
Denmark Telecom Concern TDC
By JASON SINGER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
August 17, 2005; Page C4
After missing out on the acquisition of several big European telecom companies in recent months, a clutch of cash-rich private-equity funds have homed in on their latest target: Denmark's TDC AS, a company with a market value of $9 billion.
The funds -- large U.S. and U.K. institutions that have informally grouped into two competing camps -- have approached the management of Denmark's largest telecommunications carrier about a potential deal to buy the whole company, people close to the situation said. The funds have yet to make a firm bid, these people added. A TDC spokesman declined to comment.
So far, the groups aligning for what could rank as one of Europe's biggest private-equity buyouts include London-based Apax Partners and Permira Advisors, working with Blackstone Group of New York and Providence Equity Partners of Providence, R.I. The second team is likely to include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. of New York and London's BC Partners.
Private-equity funds use money from rich individuals and institutions to buy companies, restructure them and sell them or take them public a few years later. Officials at all the firms either declined to comment or couldn't be reached, and people close to the situation cautioned that the alliances could change as some firms may opt to drop out and others may join if bids for TDC ultimately emerge.
The approach to TDC comes as the big private-equity players have been stung by several failures to win a big deal in Europe's telecom industry.
Nearly all of the firms looking at TDC were trumped by France Télécom SA earlier this year after months of bidding for Amena, one of the largest Spanish mobile operators. Executives in the private-equity industry say the cost of preparing bids for Amena was among the highest ever, at around $8 million in some instances, only for the firms to see the French telecommunications giant snap up 80% of Amena for €6.4 billion ($7.92 billion).
Some of the same funds were also beaten in a heated bidding war earlier this year for Italian mobile operator Wind, which was won by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. He bought a controlling stake that valued Wind at €12.1 billion. Some of the firms have also bid and lost on recent sales of mobile and fixed-line telecom companies in the Czech Republic, Austria and elsewhere.
The interest in buying the whole of TDC also comes as the Danish firm in June started an auction of its TDC Directories yellow-pages business, which has also attracted interest from private-equity firms. That deal, expected to bring in about $800 million for TDC, has been seen as a "soft" defensive move by the company that is designed to bolster shareholders ahead of a potentially contentious battle over the entire company, the people familiar with the situation said.
TDC is attractive to private-equity firms because its various operations could be easily sold to telecom competitors in different parts of Europe. TDC derives more than half of its roughly $7.7 billion in annual revenue from cellular and fixed-line operations across Europe, including Germany, Switzerland and Poland. The company became more accessible in February when it dropped a so-called poison-pill provision designed to thwart takeover approaches.
Write to Jason Singer at
jason.singer@wsj.com1
