Brazil to prequalify Telebras bidders in April
Reuters, Friday, March 13, 1998 at 16:09
BRASILIA, March 13 (Reuters) - Brazil in April plans to
prequalify companies interested in the privatization of federal
telecoms holding Telebras (SAO:TEL_.P), officials said Friday.
"The idea is to register them and find out how many are
interested," said a government spokesman, quoting
Communications Minister Sego Mott.
The spokesman said Brasilia was sticking to its plans for a
mid-year sale of the federal telecommunications giant.
Earlier on Friday, however, Brazil's Finance Minister Pedro
Malan suggested there might be a delay in Telebras' sale.
"The ideal thing will be to keep the original timetable, but I
don't think that a slippage of one or two months will make a
major difference for a program that is one of the largest
privatizations in the world," Malan told Reuters Financial
Television in an interview in New York.
Analysts have also said the timetable is tight for a sale
in June or July, but they too did not expect that a one- or
two-month delay would have a serious impact on the sale.
Touted as the largest privatization in Latin America's
history, the sale has drawn interest from most of the major
global telecommunications companies. It could rake in more than
$20 billion.
The spokesman quoted Mott as saying the prequalification
was meant to streamline the sale, but was a "bureaucratic
process" and unlikely to cause court delays.
According to the spokesman, Mott also said prequalified
foreign investors will be given access to the technical and
operating details of the company in late April or early May.
The minister also announced that Brazil plans to publish in
April yet another set of tender rules for a license to operate
B Band frequency cellular services in the vast Amazon region.
The government failed in two prior attempts to draw bids for a
concession to operate in the so-called B Band area No. 8, which
includes the states of Amazonas, Amapa, Roraima, Para and
Maranhao.
Mott also said the government might exempt B Band bidders
who have bids on five concessions from having to raise these
bids by 20 percent on April 7 to adjust for inflation. The
ministry is looking at legal options to avoid the increase out
of fear that some bidders may simply opt out of the tender.
The B Band process has been delayed by court challenges
since September, but officials hope a high court may remove the
last obstacle to the privatizations when it meets March 25.
"If the Superior Court of Justice rules on March 25, the
government will move as fast as it can to complete the
privatizations before April 7," the spokesman said.
james.craig@reuters.com))
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
