French To Sell France Telecom Stake Worth $5.5 Billion
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The French government said it will sell between 6% and 8% of France Telecom SA, a stake with a market value of as much as 4.53 billion euros ($5.54 billion), to reduce the state’s debt.
The government will sell 152 million shares in Paris-based France Telecom, the nation’s largest phone company, to institutional investors through a so-called accelerated book building, a Finance Ministry spokeswoman said yesterday. It might increase the sale to as much as 198 million shares, or about 8%, of the former telecommunications monopoly if there is sufficient demand, she said.
The announcement of the asset sale comes five days after Dominique de Villepin replaced Jean-Pierre Raffarin as the nation’s prime minister following the French rejection of the proposed European Union constitution on May 29.
Mr. de Villepin hasn’t said yet whether he plans to sell shares in state owned utilities Electricite de France and Gaz de France, sales Mr. Raffarin had planned for later this year. The government will have a 33% to 35% holding in France Telecom after the share sale, the spokeswoman said.
The French telecommunications giant has a market value of 56.5 billion euros. Its shares fell 1.7% to 22.88 euros on Friday. The company’s stock has declined 6.1% so far this year.
