TDC, the Danish owners of alternative operator Hungarian Telephone Cable Corp, has reportedly put the company up for sale, Dow Jones writes citing people familiar with the situation. It is understood TDC, which owns 64.6% of HTCC, has appointed BNP Paribas to auction off the company, the source said.
In January 2007 HTCC moved to acquire the country’s then second largest fixed line service provider Invitel Tavkozlesi Szolgaltato (Invitel) from Magyar Telekom for USD611 million and later in the year, further strengthened its position when it completed the acquisition of Tele2 Hungary from the unit’s Swedish parent. However, TDC had said it might look to offload HTCC upon completion of the Invitel deal. On 1 July CommsUpdate reported that HTCC had retained the services of investment banking firm BNP Paribas Corporate Finance to assist its evaluation of the strategic alternatives for the company. In a statement the firm said it could make no assurances that any particular course of action would be pursued or provide accurate timings or terms of any such strategic alternative.