Danish telecoms operator TDC has announced that its controlling shareholder has appointed a consortium of Nordic and international banks to advise in a strategic review that could lead to a sale of a stake in the company, Dow Jones Newswires reports. ‘The strategic review may or may not lead to a sale of all or part of the shareholder’s shares in TDC or another strategic transaction,’ the operator announced, adding: ‘There can be no assurance when such a sale will occur, if at all.’ 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. The firms are expected to divest the stake through a sale or full stock market flotation.
TDC’s plans for an initial public offering (IPO) were delayed earlier in the year, after authorities in Switzerland halted the merger of TDC’s Swiss subsidiary Sunrise with France Telecom’s (FT’s) local unit Orange in April 2010. However, in September 2010 TDC announced the sale of Sunrise to CVC Capital Partners for CHF3.3 billion (USD3.27 billion). The sale was the final stretch in TDC’s streamlining to focus on its Nordic operations, and was widely seen in the financial market as preparation by TDC’s shareholders for a flotation.