EVN Telecom Plans to Make Share Sale in 2009
EVN Telecom, a phone operation subsidiary of the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam group (EVN), said it eyes to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) within this year although the stock market has not developed stably and the telecom market faces severe competition.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has also approved to merge EVN Information Technology Center (EVNiT) into EVN Telecom as the first step before the privatization.
“We expect to choose foreign strategic investors before selling shares to public as the worst of the global recession seems to be over,” said EVN Telecom Chief Executive Officer Dinh The Phuc.
Earlier this year, the government gave permission to EVN Telecom to sell a 30 per cent stake to foreign investors. However, the company has been still unable to select any foreign partners since 2008.
EVN Telecom, among two local mobile phone operators applying CDMA technology, plans to join hands with HTmobile to build 5,000 base transceiver stations (BTS), raising the total stations to 8,000 to complete infrastructure system for 3G services this year.
It eyes revenues of VND4 trillion from public telecommunications and 4.6 million CDMA subscribers in 2009.
Vietnam’s leading mobile phone operator, MobiFone, which is valued at US$2 billion by Credit Suisse, is also expected to hold the IPO this year, paving the way for other telecom firms such as VinaPhone and Viettel. (CafeF, Vietnam Economic Times)
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