* Says could raise over 1 billion euros for 49 percent
* Favours full sale of heating firms, not 51 percent
By Martin Santa
BRATISLAVA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Slovakia may raise over 1
billion euros through an initial public offering of its 49
percent stake in telecommunication company Slovak Telekom (ST),
the country's economy minister said on Thursday.
Slovakia's centre-right government plans to restart a
privatisation drive, halted by the previous leftist
administration. It approved the sale of six regional heating
companies on Wednesday. []
"I think IPO is the best option... I would do it on three
exchanges, in our region," Economy Minister Juraj Miskov told
Reuters in an interview.
The National Property Fund, holding a 15 percent stake in
ST, and the finance ministry will submit an analysis of sale
options to the cabinet in the coming three weeks, Miskov said.
The economy ministry holds 34 percent in ST.
Deutsche Telekom <DTEGn.DE> owns the remaining 51 percent,
acquired in a privatisation deal in 2000.
The centre-right cabinet of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova,
in power since last July, has said it would seek investors to
improve the operations of companies in the energy,
transportation and telecommunication sectors.
The Slovak Telekom group is Slovakia's largest fixed and
mobile operator and offers data and voice services via its
T-Com and T-Mobile brands.
The group's total revenues fell by 4.4 percent on the year
to 701.6 million euros ($960 million) in the first nine months
of 2010 following price cuts in selected services.
Operating free cash-flow for the period dropped by 4.2
percent year-on-year to 200.3 million euros.
Slovakia, which pledged one of the European Union's most
ambitious fiscal consolidations this year, sold its banks and
stakes in major energy utilities earlier this decade to
co-finance market reforms and cut public debt.
Miskov said he preferred the sale of a 100 percent stake in
the the heating companies being put up for sale.
"The French will be interested, Veolia <VIE.PA>, Dalkia
<VIE.PA> <EDF.PA>, Cofely <GSZ.PA>, then Germany's E.ON
<EONGn.DE>, Italian investors expressed interest, and I also
expect some domestic companies to show interest," said Miskov.
FDI INTO REGION ON RISE
The global economic crisis dented growth, froze investment
activity and widened public deficits in central Europe, but
global recovery and rising foreign demand were now helping those
countries.
"We can see how capital defrosts and investors are looking
for investment opportunities, this is a fact about the entire
region," Miskov, senior official of the liberal junior
government party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) said.
German car group Volkswagen <VOWG.DE> said on Thursday it
plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in Slovakia in
the coming five years to boost production [].
(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by David Cowell)
($1 = 0.7308 euro)
