Final Word from Friday, March 4, 2005
When PPF sets it sights on something, observers say, it always prevails, whether it's Česká pojišťovna, TV Nova, or other less-publicized deals. In this light, its decision yesterday to pull out of the Český Telecom privatization can be taken as a sign that the battle for the phone company is only beginning. The emergence this week of France Telecom as a bidder with Blackstone/CVC/Providence perhaps made an M&A purchase too expensive for PPF. Observers who can't accept that PPF is giving up argue that it always had a flotation as an option for taking over Telecom. With the political position of Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka now weakened, and with less price competition for the direct sale now that PPF has pulled out, the proponents of a float might soon get the upper hand. Otherwise, Telecom could go down in history as the deal that PPF didn't get. [Czech Republic Capital Partners]