October 7 (SeeNews) - The Romanian communications ministry said it is seeking to contract consultancy services in order to sell its 45.99% stake in local fixed-line carrier Romtelecom.
Interested specialised consultants, investment banks or consortia comprising an investment bank and a legal advisor, are invited to file their bids by November 7, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
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The Romanian government decided in July to resume the sale of its stake in Romtelecom. Its main option is the listing of the state-owned stake on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the communications minister said at that time.
This is the third time that the Romanian government has initiated the sale of its stake in the fixed-line operator.
The operator turned to a profit of 312 million lei ($94 million/70 million euro) in 2012 from a loss of 884 million lei a year earlier. Its turnover, however, declined to 2.7 million lei from 2.8 billion lei in 2011.
Greece's largest telecoms group, OTE, holds 54.01% of the company.
Romania's communications ministry owns 14.65 million shares of Romtelecom with a par value of 10 lei each.
(1 euro = 4.4370 Romanian lei)