Norway's Telenor ASA (TEL.OS) is one of the three bidders still in the race for Polish mobile phone operator Polkomtel SA, although its consortium with Bain fell apart on the eve of filing binding bids last Friday, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

"Telenor did file, just not with Bain," the person said. "You could say the consortium did not stand the test of time."

He added that Telenor opted to raise its bid, and Bain didn't want to. Another person said Thursday the situation is "fluid" and Bain may reenter the process at a later stage.

Polkomtel was put up for sale last year by its five owners. Polish businessman Zygmunt Solorz-Zak filed his bid by the deadline last Friday, and private equity fund Apax was also expected to bid, people familiar with the matter said earlier. A Polkomtel shareholder said this week three bids had been filed, but declined to name them.

The sale process, launched in January, has been complex because of Polkomtel's ownership structure and the Polish government's control over most shareholders.

Polkomtel's owners include oil refiner PKN Orlen SA (PKN.WA) and copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH.WA), each with 24.39%, as well as Poland's largest power group PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA (PGE.WA), which holds a 21.85% stake. The Polish Treasury holds stakes in the three owners of 27.52%, 31.79% and 69.29% respectively.

The remaining shareholders in Polkomtel are U.K.-based telecom operator Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), which has a 24.39% stake, and Polish coal miner Weglokoks SA, which is wholly owned by the Polish Treasury and holds a 4.98% stake.

Telenor wasn't immediately available to comment.

-By Marynia Kruk, Dow Jones Newswires; +48 22 447-2431; marynia.kruk@dowjones.com

(Sven Grundberg in Stockholm and Marietta Cauchi in London contributed to this article.)