TDC pushes ahead with IPO plans

Danish telecoms operator TDC is moving forward with revived plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the autumn, Dow Jones Newswires reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Plans to launch a share offering were delayed earlier in the year, after authorities in Switzerland halted the merger of TDC’s Swiss mobile operator Sunrise with France Telecom’s (FT’s) local unit Orange in April 2010. Sources said the IPO is now back on track and should be completed in 2010, depending on market conditions and barring any further delays. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, TDC was acquired by Nordic Telephone Company (NTC) – a private equity consortium including Apax Partners, Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira and Providence Equity Partners – in December 2005 in a EUR13 billion (USD17.8 billion) leveraged buy-out deal. Although the firms have not yet fully decided on a complete exit from TDC, full stock market floatation is considered the most likely option.