Serbia’s Government last month rejected a 950 million Euro offer from the Austrian incumbent for a 51% share in state-owned Telekom Serbia, saying it would accept no compromise on the original 1.4 billion asking price. Its rejection was in spite of a commitment by Telekom Austria to invest a further 450 million Euro in the operator over a period to improve its antiquated infrastructure.
The Austrian telco has been given until May 4 to strengthen its proposal, but has so far made no move despite rumours that a price lower than 1.4 billion Euro had been agreed. Press reports from late last week that a 30% stake might change hands for 840 million Euro look unfounded following denials by the Serbian government.
The Belgrade-based company has just posted annual figures for the year ended 31 December 2010 showing profits up 1.5% on strong demand for internet and multimedia services. Its broadband subscriber numbers were up 53.1% over the period to 416,000, with IPTV users tripling to 82,000.
