TDC Lines Up Bankers for Possible Market Listing

Nordic Telephone Company, the parent of European telecommunications giant TDC, is poised to list the company on the market, with a powerful lineup of bankers including Goldman Sachs, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and JP Morgan set to advise on the process. The decision is driven by the strengthening equity markets, which are providing an opportunity for private equity firms to unlock value in their portfolios and return cash to investors. TDC's sale of its Hungarian subsidiary Invitel and its plans for a merger with France Telecom's Swiss operations are also indicative of the company's efforts to restructure and position itself for a potential listing.

Key Takeaways:

• TDC's owners, private equity giants Apax, Blackstone, KKR, Permira, and Providence Equity Partners, are seeking to list the company to unlock value in their portfolios and return cash to investors.
• TDC is planning a merger of its Swiss operations, called Sunrise, with those of France Telecom to form a rival to Swisscom, with 3.4m clients and 38% market share.
• The deal would be similar to the one between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom in the UK.
• Future listings include:

+ Blackstone's expected flotation of Merlin Entertainments, the theme park operator, advised by Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Nomura.

+ Betfair, the online gambling company, which last contemplated a listing in 2005.

+ Lion Capital's potential listing of the Weetabix cereal business.

+ Acromas, the combined AA and Saga businesses owned by private equity firms Permira, CVC, and Charterhouse, which previously considered an IPO but terminated the proposals.

Statistics:

• TDC was bought out for €15.3bn including debt in 2005.

Sources:

• "Private equity firms tout the virtues of star listings" by Miles Johnson and Andrew Parker, Financial Times, (no date mentioned)
• "Private equity firms line up for TDC IPO" by Miles Johnson, Financial Times, (no date mentioned)