By Archibald Preuschat
FRANKFURT--German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG
(DTE.XE) Friday said it is examining the option of an initial
public offering for Everything Everywhere, or EE, which it jointly
owns with France Telekom (FTE.FR).
"An IPO is a possibility to realize part of the joint venture's
increase in value," Deutsche Telekom Chief Financial Officer Tim
Hoettges said. He added however that the company isn't forced to
take this step.
The joint venture, which includes the German company's T-Mobile
UK unit and France Telecom's Orange segment, has been in existence
for about three years and is the largest British mobile phone
company in sales and customer numbers.
France Telekom's CFO Gervais Pellissie said in November that
they are examining the option of an IPO for EE and that the step
could be taken at the end of next year.
Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Rene Obermann didn't want to
commit to a timetable but said that, "we wouldn't talk about it
today if we planned it in a few years time." Mr Hoettges added that
an IPO would strongly depend on the market environment.
Mr Obermann excluded unilateral action of the joint venture
partners, saying Deutsche Telekom has had good experiences with the
German-French partnership and wants to keep it that way in the
future.
An IPO could also be on the cards for digital classifieds portal
Scout to support growth potential without burdening Telekom's
balance sheet too much.
Write to Archibald Preuschat at
archibald.preuschat@dowjones.com
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