The bids submitted to Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. (NYSE: HTX; HKSE: 2332) for its 51.33% stake in Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) were less than it expected. However, Hutchison believes since the process has only just begun, the bidders will increase their offers during the negotiations.
Sources add that changes are possible in the structure of consortia that bid for Partner; i.e. that their members may change.
In the next few days, Hutchison will decide which of the consortia will enter Partner's information room, and with which consortia to pursue sale negotiations. The bids submitted are basically indications as to which bids are worthwhile pursuing.
Hutchison wants to sell its Partner stake at the market price before the rise in its market cap that followed news of the sale, i.e. $16 per share. The opening bids were below this price and may have only been the starting prices for bargaining.
Hutchison declinedto report how many bids it received for Partner. However, four consortia have confirmed that they have bid for the company: Scailex Corp. ltd. (TASE: SCIX; Bulletin Board:SCIXF), controlled by Ilan Ben-Dov; First Israel Mezzanine Investors Fund (FIMI) run by CEO Ishai Davidi ; Eurocom Group, owned by Shaul Elovitch; and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) subsidiary Leumi & Partners, together with Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL) and Menorah Mivtachim Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MORA) subsidiary New Mivtachim Pension Fund Ltd. Foreign private equity funds are backing the bidders, including Cerberus Capital Management LP, Providence Fund, and Rohn Fund. The funds want to acquire a stake Partner and are willing to join whichever group buys control of the company.
The Partner sale is one of the largest deals underway in Israel. A buyer will have to put up $700 million plus bank financing for about the same amount for Hutchison's stake. Partner's share closed at $16.99 on Nasdaq on Friday, giving a market cap of $2.6 billion. The share fell 0.2% at the opening on the TASE today to NIS 67.84.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 12, 2009
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