By Leos Rousek
PRAGUE--PPF Group NV, the Czech financial group owned by the
billionaire Petr Kellner, Wednesday said it has approved a 295.15
koruna ($14.68) offer for each outstanding share of Telefonica
Czech Republic AS (BAATELEC.PR).
The offer is below the purchase price of CZK305.63 per share the
company paid in January to secure the 65.9% stake in the Czech unit
of Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF). At the time, PPF Group paid 2.06
billion euros ($2.82 billion) outright for the majority stake in
the Czech Republic's top telecommunications operator and an
additional EUR404 million over the following four years.
The buyout offer to minority shareholders of Telefonica Czech
Republic is slightly below the expected CZK297 and it is "slightly
negative" regarding the stock's closing price of CZK299.8
Wednesday, a trader at Patria Finance said.
PPF Group is carrying out the buyout of minority shareholders
through its Dutch-registered subsidiary PPF Arena 2 BV. The company
said it wouldn't provide any further comment on "the mandatory
tender offer," but said it expected its subsidiary to release final
terms and conditions of the transaction by June 3.
PPF Group's takeover of Telefonica Czech is the company's
largest investment on the local market after years of expansion in
other sectors and territories outside Central and Eastern Europe.
The company operates in consumer finance and real estate in Russia,
Kazakhstan, China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Philippines.
Mr. Kellner has sought to branch out into telecommunications
following a recent sale of PPF Group's Eastern European insurance
operations to Italy's insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA (G.MI).
Mr. Kellner's estimated net worth is $10.4 billion, according to
Forbes magazine, which last year ranked him 106th on its list of
the world's billionaires.
Write to Leos Rousek at leos.rousek@wsj.com
Go to http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope for the new WSJ and
Dow Jones blog on Central and Eastern Europe, covering business,
politics, society and more, written by our correspondents across
the region.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires