T-HT Share Price Ranges from 245 to 320 Kuna

The government has determined the price range for the shares of Hrvatski Telekom at its regular session, within which offers for the purchase of T-HT shares will be submitted in the public offering. The price range will be from 245 to 320 kuna, and shares can be purchased at 293 locations across the country.

 Within this range, citizens and institutional investors will be able to submit offers for the purchase of HT shares starting Monday, September 17, and the final price at which the shares will be sold will be determined by the government on October 1, when it will also decide on the allocation of shares. The public offering process for HT shares will begin on September 17 and end on October 5 of this year, when their listing on the Zagreb and London Stock Exchanges is expected. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader estimates that the listing on both exchanges will likely occur simultaneously on October 5 at 10:30 AM.  Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polančec explained that the decision on the price range was made based on the valuation of HT prepared by the government’s advisor JP Morgan, based on projections of HT’s three-year and five-year business results.

The decision on the price range, he adds, is also based on the so-called pre-marketing phase, or discussions with 60 potential significant institutional investors. In initial public offerings (IPOs), the usual range between the lowest and highest price is 20 to 30 percent, and the proposed range is in line with this best practice and can generate significant demand, Polančec said. “Good experiences and a successful story with Ina should be repeated. This way, Croatian citizens can participate in successful companies,” said Prime Minister Sanader, reminding that the public offering is also the most transparent way of privatization. The government is selling at least 20 percent and at most 23 percent of HT shares in the public offering. Given the price range, the revenue from the sale could range from at least 4 to 5.5 billion kuna. 

Croatian citizens can submit their binding offers with preemptive rights (up to 38,000 kuna), as well as above that amount, from September 17 to 27, and by the end of September 27, their payments must also be recorded. Offers can be submitted at a total of 293 branches of Hrvatska poštanska banka, Erste Bank, and Fina. Croatian citizens with preemptive rights will be able to purchase HT shares up to the amount of 38,000 kuna, and given the established price range, this means that in the case of the maximum amount, they will be able to purchase between 118 and 155 HT shares. For every ten such shares they hold, or do not dispose of for one year, meaning until October 5, 2008, Croatian citizens will receive one HT share for free. Institutional investors will be able to submit offers from September 17 to October 1, and their payments must be recorded by October 4. 

Deputy Prime Minister Polančec reminded that a prerequisite for submitting offers for the purchase of shares in the public offering is that the prospectus for this sale is approved by the independent regulator in London and the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa).  He also referred to today’s announcement from Hanfa, to which the prospectus for the sale of HT shares was supposed to be submitted yesterday, but was only submitted this morning, which is why Hanfa announced that it might make a decision on the prospectus only tonight. 

Wishing to “calm things down,” Polančec said that Hanfa has organized itself and is working on analyzing the data from the prospectus.  This delay should not sound the alarm; Hanfa could confirm the prospectus tonight at an extraordinary session, he said, noting that he is in intensive communication with Hanfa today and thanking them for their cooperation.   The prospectus will, he added, begin printing over the weekend, and on Monday, when the real roadshow for institutional investors begins, it will be available. (L. K. / Hina)