NTC starts strategic review of ownership in TDC

Nordic Telephone Company (NTC), the consortium of private equity groups which holds an 87.9% stake in Danish telecoms operator TDC, has announced it has initiated a process of evaluating strategic alternatives for its ownership in the telco. ‘NTC is very satisfied with the development of our investment in TDC over the last four years. Since our acquisition of the stake in TDC in the beginning of 2006, TDC has developed into being one of the best performing European telecom incumbents with strong prospects going forward,’ commented Kurt Bjorklund of NTC, adding, ‘TDC is today the clear market leader in Denmark across all main products and technologies. Furthermore, the goal of focusing the company on the Nordic region, as we set out to do, is now well advanced. We therefore find that timing and conditions are right with regards to investigating strategic alternatives for TDC.’ According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, NTC is made up of private equity groups Apax Partners, the Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira Advisers and Providence Equity Partners. The consortium acquired TDC in December 2005 in a EUR13 billion (USD19.5 billion) leveraged buy-out deal.