July 4 (SeeNews) - Croatia's Hrvatski Telekom [ZSE:HT-R-A] has informed the country's anti-trust regulator AZTN that it has launched preparations for the sale of smaller local peer Optima Telekom [ZSE:OPTE-R-A], AZTN said.
With the move, Croatia's biggest telecommunications operator has met a key requirement of a decision of the anti-trust agency, namely that Hrvatski Telekom (HT) should begin preparations for the sale six months before it starts, AZTN said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Under the July 2017 decision, HT should launch the sale of Optima in January 2020 by way of international tender.
In particular, Hrvatski Telekom should launch the sale of its 17.4% stake, and will have the right to also sell the 36.9% stake of local lender Zagrebacka Banka in Optima, in line with a previous agreement between HT and the bank.
If there is no interest in the sale of Optima six months after its launch, or if the submitted bids are unacceptable, HT is obliged to hire an investment bank to lead the sale process.
In 2017, AZTN prolonged HT's temporary management rights over Optima by three years, until July 10, 2021.
If HT fails to complete the sale of Optima by this deadline, the telco should transfer its management rights to Zagrebacka Banka, or a third non-affiliated party, and authorise it to sell its stake in Optima.
Optima's share price has more than tripled since the beginning of the year on market talk that United Group, a leading multi-play telecommunications and media services provider in Southeast Europe, might be interested in its sale.
United Group agreed to buy in June the Croatian business of Swedish peer Tele2 for 220 million euro ($248 million).
Optima's shares closed 3.64% lower at 5.55 kuna ($0.85/0/75 euro) on Wednesday.
(1 euro = 7.39837 kuna)