Delay in Télécom auction

The Tunisian government is delaying the deadline for bids in its auction of a 35% stake in state-owned telco Tunisie Télécom. Reuters reports that interested bidders will now have an extra six weeks beyond the original cut-off date of 31 January. It now seems unlikely that a sale will be completed by mid-2006. Of the 13 firms which initially registered their interest in bidding for the stake it is expected that just four or five will actually enter final bids. Bouygues Telecom of France became the latest potential suitor to walk away this week.