More good news for the Telecom Eireann flotation, with apparently no drop in demand for new telecom share offerings. Despite the market turmoil in the past few months, Swiss Telecom and Japanese giant DoCoMo have already carried out successful initial public offerings.
In the past week, the French government announced plans to sell off another 13 per cent tranche of France Telecom, while the Finnish government has announced plans to sell 20 per cent of state-owned telecom operator Sonera at the top of the price range set a month ago. Sonera is valued at around £4 billion at the offer, compared to the likely £3 billion valuation on Telecom Eireann when it is floated next summer.
And to add to that, the flotation of Poland's Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) saw strong local and international demand with the shares bounding ahead to a good premium. Eireann has a near-monopoly - is operating in what is seen as an emerging market.
Eireann flotation remains on target for a summer 1999 offering.
The one potential fly in the ointment remains the sell-off of Cablelink, which must be completed before the Telecom Eireann float goes ahead. The telecoms regulator and the cable industry have still to agree on new licensing terms for the sector and until Cablelink has a new licence, no one will touch it with a barge pole. The risk now is that the cable industry and the regulator end up in a protracted legal battle, delaying the Cablelink sale and threatening the timetable for the Telecom float.
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